Trained Only

Use this skill to fly a general-purpose fixed-wing aircraft. The Pilot skill is used to control space vehicles and jetpacks as well as aircraft.

Check: Typical piloting tasks don't require checks. Checks are required during combat, for special maneuvers, or in other extreme circumstances, or when the pilot wants to attempt something outside the normal parameters of the vehicle. When flying, you can attempt simple maneuvers and stunts (actions in which the pilot attempts to do something complex very quickly or in a limited space).

Each vehicle's description includes a maneuver modifier that applies to Pilot checks made by the operator of the vehicle.

Pilot Starship: Routine piloting of a starship rarely requires skill checks, but when things go beyond the routine, such as in star-ship combat or when precise maneuvering is required, a good pilot can spell the difference between life and death. Full details for starship combat are given elsewhere, but it is worth noting here that a pilot who is proficient with the starship she is controlling is able to add her Dexterity and class bonuses to Defense to the ship’s defense, to ram other vehicles and objects, to use her Pilot skill to escape grappling systems, to stealthily move a ship on silent running, and more.

Jetpack Use: Normal use of a jetpack simply adds flying movement to a character, requiring no rolls. A skilled pilot, however, can attempt daring maneuvers peculiar to jetpacks.

The character makes a Pilot check as a free action during his jetpack movement (or at another times as called for by the maneuver), and the check determines the success or failure of the maneuver. If the pilot fails the check, her movement is stopped at the mid-point of the maneuver, and she must land or hover in that position until the next round. If the check fails by 5 or more, the pilot must succeed at a second Pilot check (same DC as the original maneuver) or crash, taking 4d12 points of damage and falling prone for the remainder of the round.

Blast Off: The blast off maneuver entails building up a fiery charge within the thrusters of a jetpack and then releasing it in one quick, forceful blast, bathing adjacent creatures in searing flames. As an attack action, the character may prime the jetpack for the blast off. The character then makes a Pilot check (DC 20) to release the primed energy and take a flying move action as normal. If the check is successful, all creatures adjacent to the character must make Reflex saves (DC 15) or suffer 2d6 points of fire damage. The operator does not provoke attacks of opportunity from those who fail their saves.

Bull Rush: Using the bull rush maneuver while flying with a jetpack works just like normal a bull rush except as follows: Use the jetpack’s flight speed rather than the character’s ground speed, and the pilot may make a Pilot check (DC 20) to triple her Strength bonus for the purpose of determining the success of the bull rush.

Loop: The operator of a jetpack can use the loop maneuver to get around behind an opponent without provoking an attack of opportunity. As a move action, the jetpack user may make a Pilot check (DC 25) in order to move one space behind an adjacent character. This movement must be to a space that would be flanking the targeted opponent from the jetpack operator’s original position. Moving in this maneuver does provoke an attack of opportunity from the targeted adjacent character, though if the movement places the jetpack operator in another character’s threatened space, she provokes an attack of opportunity from that character.

Zig-Zag: As a full-round action, a jetpack operator may make a Pilot check (DC25), to move her normal rate for a single move action, dashing around in a zig-zag pattern to avoid incoming attacks. A successful check grants a +4 dodge bonus to Defense for the round.

Special: You can take 10 when making a Pilot check, but you can't take 20.

A character with the Vehicle Expert feat gets a +2 bonus on all Pilot checks.

There is no penalty for operating a general-purpose fixed-wing aircraft or a jet-pack. Other types of aircraft (heavy aircraft, helicopters, jet fighters, and spacecraft) require the corresponding Vehicle Operation feat, or else you take a -4 penalty on Pilot checks.

Time: A Pilot check is a move action.