Essa Subclass — Fighter

Ironhand

Striker — Escalating

No vials. No Rig. No registration. Just a body that learned to hit wrong.

Hit Died10
PrimarySTR (CON for Emergency saves)
SavesSTR, CON
ResourceMomentum
RigNo Rig
Armor
All armor, shields
Weapons
Simple, martial (Unarmed Fighting recommended)
Key Mechanic
Momentum Pool
Rule Break

No Vials: All Ironhand Techniques cost Momentum instead of vials. No Feedback Save. No Burn Track (normally). The more enemies you remove from the field, the more Momentum you have and the more dangerous you become.

Archetype: Physical force discipline — no Essa, no hardware

Ironhand is a discipline — a physical and mechanical school of technique so refined it produces Essa-equivalent output without any Essa at all. The Empire has no regulatory framework for you. No Rig means no license. No license means no category. You exist in a gap in their paperwork. Your fuel is Momentum, generated by removing threats from the battlefield. No vials. No Feedback Save. No Burn Track (normally).

Ironhand training traces to pre-Pulse Wars combat schools that predated Rig technology. The force that comes off the hands is not magic — it is the accumulated consequence of training that most people could not survive. An Empire analyst flagging Ironhand output would file it as "anomalous martial output" and request a follow-up investigation that would find nothing licensable.

Ironhand — Shatterds Sourcebook
Key Mechanic: Momentum Pool
Momentum generates by removing threats: +2 when you drop a creature to 0 HP, +1 when you incapacitate, +1 when you take damage ≥ your CON mod. Techniques cost 1–3 Momentum depending on EP tier. No vials. No Feedback Save. No Burn (normally). Max 6 Momentum at L3–8, 8 at L9–14, 10 at L15+. Resets each combat.

Essa Interaction

No Essa. No Rig. No Feedback Save. No Burn Track under normal conditions. Emergency Activation lets you fire Techniques when Momentum is empty — costs 1 Burn directly. Iron Body provides force resistance in place of Rig Current. Invisible to Suppression Grid.

Class Features

Techniques

Character Level34/6 unlocked
Showing 4 of 6 techniques

Level Progression

LevelFeaturesMomentum MaxUnarmed Die
3Iron Body, Momentum Pool, No Vials, Pulse Strike, Leap, Absorb, Disarm61d6
5Iron Overcharge, Dash, Phase, Momentum Escalation61d6
7Overload, Root, Throw61d8
9Momentum Surge81d8
10Slow, Reinforce, Perfect Form81d8
13Momentum Overflow81d10
15Iron Threshold101d10
18Iron Apex, Unstoppable121d10

All Subclasses

Essa KnightEdge KnightHexslingerTetherboundWarrantCovenantIronhandRawcasterThe StillMachinistOathboundBurnboundCipherboundWildboundCantboundDoctrine of the VanguardDoctrine of the WardenDoctrine of the Veil
fighteressa subclassno rigmomentummeleeunlicensed