[Cosmos] Subclass - Cyborg Archetype

Cyborgs who follow the path of the warrior become an indomitable fusion of organic flesh and synthetic material, a relentless hunter with the best traits of both and none of the weaknesses. Their deadliest members are characterized by a drive for change and perfection, compulsively upgrading their bodies with the latest better technology.

Within the vast cosmos, the cyborg can be more than just a human frame outfitted with metallic cybernetic enhancements. Some warriors build bodies from alternative materials such as stone or porcelain, or even from resilient organic armor like the barkstalkers of Ygjras’ mecharboreal worlds. Others may not originally be organic at all — perhaps a construct in the midst of a mortal metamorphosis. In worse circumstances, a tortured few may even be involuntary participants in their own transformation.

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DESIGN COMMENTARY

The cybernetic warrior is a Striker with additional enhancement options, which is fitting for a Fighter. Much of its flavor leans into its artificial body, from its Overclock Surge that lets them act with inhuman speed to its Transhumanity that allows them to eschew certain organic comforts. A cyborg warrior can be versatile in background too. The only requirement is a mix of organic and inorganic, with some examples included in the flavor text. You could possibly be plant and metal; flesh and porcelain; a stone golem who wants to be a real living being, etc.

This one’s long! It really needs a deep analysis to check balance because it’s so interrelated-complex. Feel free to skip if it’s too much.

Let’s dive in.

The fighter subclass progression typically follows a guideline. At 3rd level, fighters gain some bonus to damage output to make them better at fighting (e.g. Battlemaster dice, Champion criticals, Samurai's Fighting Spirit). The 7th level usually follows up with a roleplay or exploration feature because fighters often lack features outside the combat pillar (e.g. Banneret, Battlemaster, Champion, Samurai). At 10th and 15th level, fighters receive an improvement usually to their subclass features, often an offensive-oriented one at 10th and a defensive-oriented at 15th. 10th level features are “half-flavor-capstones,” meaning the flavor generally defines the character in some way because it’s the last level before a half-half multiclass. Fighters, being mainly combat-oriented, tend to get something at 10th. Finally, at 18th level, fighters gain a strong unique capstone to round out the class.

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The cyborg shares many of these design elements. Let’s take a look:

> Cybernetic Design

This 3rd-level feature forces you to take on the technomantic tag (understandable), which has downsides and upsides (some effects only target or benefit technomancy creatures. The other half of the feature grants 2 cybernetic modifications, with new options at every main fighter level (aside from 18), similar to a Battle Master or Rune Knight. Each modification option is intended to be equivalent to half an uncommon item at this level. These myriad options are rife with flavor and choice for a wide range of cyborg character concepts. More details about each one at the end of this section.

> Overclock Surge

This is the main bread-and-butter of this archetype. The flavor goal here is pushing beyond-beyond human limits; the Action Surge flavor already mentions this in some way. Overclocking basically grants extra Action Surges (but worded differently to avoid unintended extra uses of Action Surge that may trigger other effects, i.e. custom homebrew items that add rider effects to Action Surge).

These uses are limited  by a CON save that progressively increases over the course of a day; you’ll always get at least one use; at this level assuming +5 to CON saves, you may get 2 uses (DC 15 = 50% chance for a second use) and rarely 3 uses (DC 25 = 5% for a third). The probabilities work out to be ~1.5 uses per day at this level. Overclock Surge amounts to 1.5 extra weapon attacks per day, or the equivalent of a couple extra turns. It’s not too impressive, but an action is also versatile; even one extra action can mean closing critical distance or escaping.

In terms of damage, this extra action equals an average of a max extra 18 damage per day (2d6 + mod damage x 1.5, assuming the best Great weapon) — low compared to the Samurai’s 15 temp HP + attack advantage (3 uses), the Rune Knight’s ~25 bonus damage (1d6 per turn, 3-4 turns per combat, x2 uses, not including the other benefits), or the Battle Master’s whopping 54 (12d8) extra damage (assuming two rests and expending all four superiority dice, not including the maneuvers’ alternative effects).

However, Overclock Surge also gets stronger by fighter level rather than subclass level, so the scaling comparison is okay. Overclock outputs more damage when you get more extra attacks; increases to-hit for attack rolls when your ability score or PB increases, and can mitigate its saving throws as Indomitable grows. To also account for this, the cyborg’s other features are generally much lower-powered compared to other subclasses’ features of that level.

> Internal Logic

At 7th-level, the cyborg gains another cyborg modification at this level, which accounts for most of this level’s power. Proficiency with Intelligence is good flavor though, and better protects you from effects that usually target technomantic creatures.

> Transhumanity

At 10th-level, the modifications gain new benefits, which accounts for most of this level’s power. So this feature just grants a ribbon (aka abilities that don’t affect most games), but is deeply in flavor with a machine.

> Rush Strike

At 15th-level, the cyborg gains another cyborg modification at this level (which also gains the 10th-level enhancement, by the way), which accounts for most of this level’s power. This level simply grants up to ~3 extra advantages per day (~3 Overclocks; should have ~+10 to saves at this point, so the fighter should clear DC 15 and 25 easily), which isn’t a lot and low-impact considering how many sources of advantage there are. You also don’t get this advantage if you Surge and don’t attack.

> Inhuman Surge

Finally the capstone at 18th level. To keep things low on bookkeeping because there’s already so many cyborg mods, this one simply lowers the DC, which overall gives the Fighter potentially one more Surge. A Surge at this level is already powerful!

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> Cyborg Modifications

Each Cyborg Mod is balanced to be about half an non-attunement uncommon item, with little to no immediate impact on combat. Thus, getting two of them at 3rd-level sorta grants you the equivalent of +1 weapon at most (if you pick only the attack-focused ones). They can be compared to the Rune Knight’s runes, who also get two at 3rd level.

At 10th-level, the modifications gain an enhancement — typically a 1/day short-term benefit, elevating it to the level of a non-attunement uncommon item. We don’t want them too powerful because by 10th-level, four of your mods will be enhanced at the same time.

With that in mind, let’s take a quick look:

• Bionic Fortitude. This grants half roughly one-quarter Tough feat, which isn’t a lot, but still is significant over the course of a hard day. Statistically, +1 to hit point maximum is equivalent to half a CON ASI, and we want to hit a mark that’s about half of that. It also stacks well with certain builds. The 10th level enhancement only adds a 1/day dash to your Second Wind, which may not see use often, but crucial when it is used properly.

• Camoskin. This is for your ninja assassin cyborgs. Proficiency in Stealth is the main draw here. The secondary benefit is situational, requiring you to stay still for a long time, which usually doesn’t apply since you’re mostly sneaking around, not staying still. At 10th, you basically get a 1/day bonus action Disengage. It lasts until the end of the turn! But it’s FUN for the flavor.

• Fail-safe Circuit. Though charmed conditions are somewhat situational, they can wreck martial classes so it’s worth something. These conditions don’t crop up too often, so it’s not too powerful nor 100% necessary to take. At 10th, you can auto-end the condition, which helps in case you still fail (and want to save your Indomitable for other things).

• Hacker Systems. This grants proficiency for when you want to play a beep boop hacker bot. You become the hacker tool, so it can’t be confiscated. At 10th, you become a bit more successful.

• Holonet Access. This grants proficiency in a rotating skill or tool of choice. The choice is the main draw here (a built-in holopad is a ribbon since anyone can purchase one). At 10th level, I opted for triple instead of double PB for one check per day because double PB is only a +3 at that level – an increase that is, though not insignificant, still feels bad to play with.

• Integrated Armor. This is just natural armor. 12/13+DEX won’t add up to real armor. It’s not meant to replace armor or give a bonus — just an alternative.

• Integrated Weapon. This is for the “I want my arm to be a cannon or sword” cyborgs. The main benefit here is you can’t be disarmed of this new weapon, and the weapon can deal alternative damage types to bypass resistance to physical damage. Vulnerabilities in 5e aren’t abundant, so it’s not valued heavily. At 10th level, it becomes a +1 weapon, which isn’t much considering you should be getting +2/+3 weapons by then. Half of this is flavor!

• Mobility Suite. Climb or swim speed is a cool alternative. Climb is most useful in the cosmos because of how many skyscrapers there are, but shouldn’t break too many encounters.

• Optics Array. Darkvision is always good, though carrying a light does the same. The other benefit is a “heat vision” scan, which is pretty situational and grants a minor +2 bonus (about half of advantage). The 10th level grants a 1/day see invisibility, which is generally situational. You may go weeks without encountering invisible enemies. You could use it to see invisible passages, though you’d have to hope you guessed right first.

• Prosthesis. Probably the most variable one, since there’s no telling what homebrew prostheses there are, hence the GM decision. Since it’s limited to common prostheses at this level (the most ribbon, non-impactful tier of rarity), it’s not usually a big deal. Removing the attunement requirement lets this mod be more than just “you get a magic item,” which is already a solely GM decision.

• Synthetic Musculature. This mod adds +1 damage (Versatile damage dice increase by one tier, which mathematically equals +1). This is the most combat-oriented modification, and lends flavor to the “cyborg wield big weapon” concept. +1 damage is definitely better than half an uncommon item, but I give it a pass because of the flavor. Because the bonus damage scales with extra attacks, the 10th level feature only grants a very brief burst of strength to round it out — enough to initiate or escape some grapples/shoves. The bonus to carrying capacity is useful but have little impact in most tables where weight limits are ignored - just a ribbon.

Hopefully this explains the reasoning behind this design and that it is more or less balanced. I would compare it most to the Rune Knight, which is kind of in the middle of all subclasses. If played right, a Battle Master or Samurai will outperform the Cyborg Warrior in combat, which is okay since the Cyborg is meant to lean heavier into its non-combat flavor. Of course, if outliers emerge from regular play, please let me know!