Was just thinking. A lot of the tactics, abilities, etc are very reminiscent of XCom, not to mention the obvious nature of turn based combat.
I wonder if you could do a good permadeath/difficult healing/recovery hack kind of thing? I dunno, just a thought. I tried a similar thing with Lancer a few years ago, wondered about if Starfinder 2e would handle it better
Looking at what Level 1 Alchemical Poisons are valid for a Toxicologist character I'm making (I *really really* hope the 2026 errata makes them more fun to play because I really like the idea of them).
Archive of Nethys has very few under the "Alchemical Poisons" category, but I'm confused, does this actually matter? Could I pick Bane Ammunition at level 1? Could I pick Bloodeye Coffee at level 1? Blight Bombs or Dread Ampoules?
I get that poisons have injury, inhaled, ingested etc, but is that a rules thing? Or a vibes thing? Because all the above have the "alchemical" trait and the "poison" trait, and I can't see any specific rule that defines alchemical poisons. Is Archive of Nethys pulling from any specific rules or is this vibes based?
EDIT: Adding to my confusion on this is that clicking "alchemical mutagens" sends you to the page for alchemical elixirs. Mutagens have the mutagen trait. A chirurgeon can't pick mutagens because they need to be elixirs with the healing trait. Are Toxicologists limited by an "Injury" trait or such?
First things first, this isn't a complaint. TtRPGs often fall into the trap of designing weapons based on certain vibes without realising the real world implications.
For example, bows require a *lot* of arm strength to use effectively (yet they require no str in game); slings require incredible finesse to be able to use effectively (yet they are simple weapons instead of martial. And also do surprisingly low damage, they should have the fatal trait!); slings, firearms and crossbows all reload at the same speed (... how?) and Meteor hammers are strength based (despite all of their power coming from dexterity... like the finesse based bladed scarf).
All this in mind - what does Paizo think a buckler is? They say it's typically "made of steel and strapped to your forearm", which is, I think, the justification for the free hand trait. But ironically, I think Bucklers, out of all shields I've seen irl, are the shields that *most* require the use of the hand wielding it, and I've never seen an arm strapped buckler.
So what were *they* envisioning, I wonder? A bracer?
(Examples of other that's not how that works irl items would also be appreciated, but please know I jest in good fun, as I know it's primarily for balance reasons that these items exist like this)
I'm planning on running a little homebrew oneshot in a modern setting, and I'm porting over a few of the starfinder weapons (projectile guns instead of firearms, potentially allowing operative instead of Gunslinger), but I'm looking at adapting a fair number of the NPCs in NPC core to modern day.
I know enemy balance has different damage logic to players, often with much higher flat bonuses, even on ranged attacks, but how would I change, say, the rapier (+20 to hit, 2d6 +10 piercing, rapier traits) to a Rotating pistol (default 1d6)? The calculator (Table 2-10 https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2874 ) already says that for a level 8 threat, 2d6+8 is on the low end for melee damage, would this be fine for a ranged attack or should I make it even lower? Does anyone know if, because I'm expecting nigh-everyone to have guns, if I should make it higher? Lower? The same?
What's the current rules for making your own staves? I know Secrets of Magic had rules for it, but then they changed the spell school logic etc. Do we have up-to-date rules on how to make your own staff? I want to make a staff with Befuddle!
It won't happen, I know it won't, but much like how Galactic Ancestries brought over a lot of the typical Pathfinder Ancestries to Starfinder, I wish they did the same for a lot of the classes. Stuff like a Magus Subclass that's Gravity focused, or a Class Archetype for Psychic or something. Or a Space-Barbarian subclass. Just a few tools to make the Pathfinder classes feel "modern". Even just a few feats would be cool.
It'd be a huge amount of work though, I know, but it's fun to dream.
With Bastion of Blasphemies coming out, it's got me thinking about how a lot of the classes' theming feels. Like, the player's guide mentions Druids and Gunslingers as not recommended (Druid more for lack of nature flavour, Gunslingers for lack of resources) but it's got me thinking.
Castlevania is kinda a vibe, right? Like a particular vibe? I had this about 10 years ago when I ran Curse of Strahd - sometimes that vibe doesn't fit with normal kitchen sink fantasy.
I'm looking at making characters for BoB, and finding that I'm not really looking at any ancestry outside human - Dhampir, Nephalim and even Beastkin heritage all feel thematic to me (And even going clockwork with Automaton Custom Mixed heritage feels fine, though I know that's not raw). But it makes me not want to play an Azarketi, or an Awakened Animal, or even a Halfling - They don't feel right to me, they don't feel like they fit.
Now obviously everything's RAW fine, and every table will have different thoughts, but I'm curious, how much restriction do you place on ancestries and classes when you run a game? How much restriction do you place on yourself, when you make a character? Like I said, for me, I'm finding there's a lot of character ideas that feel off the table - Nearly anything non-human, for example, Swashbuckler feels... eh, I can see it working, but I also feel it's a bit hard to pull off a cocky Inigo Montoya type... Animist feels weirdly wrong (It's too shaman, not enough ghost-y for me, for Gothic horror, but I appreciate that's potentially just my taste), any draconic magic feels a bit too high fantasy, rather than gothic fantasy, so if I were to make a Barbarian, for example, I'd avoid the Draconic Instincts.
Kineticist is a funny one, because instinctively I wouldn't call it Gothic horror, but then Sypha from Castlevania is pretty much the best Kineticist representation in media, so what do I know.
Anyway, I'd love to hear how everyone would Gothic Horror every character idea up, I think I need to be exposed to more ideas! Like how someone would do a Gothic Horror Centaur Monk, for example? That feels too out there for me
Going insane that I don't know what the feats are for Necro yet so I can't properly build, but I have an idea in mind for a wounded Necromancer Sanguinomancer with a Sterling Dynamo mechanical skeletal hand.
It wouldn't be free archetype, though. Those with the book, is Necromancer competing heavily for level 2/level 4 feats? Can I natural Ambition for the good Level 1 feats so I can have my creepy mechanical hand?
There a chance I might *finally* get a chance to be a player after years of being a forever GM. I'm looking for a class with
At the moment, the winner looks like it might be Beastkin Alchemist with Toxicologist methodology and Archer dedication, using a mixture of poisons, elemental arrows, bombs and mutagens. I'm *really* curious in both Necro and Runesmith, too, but without the book I've no idea how complex they are. For example, I've often been told that Animist is a really complex class, and I can see that in terms of build, but in terms of actually playing - to my eyes it looks surprisingly simple in its gameplan. However, if I'm missing something that makes it feel more moment-to-moment complex, please correct me.
I've not particularly sworn off any classes, though I always worry that Spontaneous casters will feel less fun for me because there's no preparation + forethought each day. I tried making an Oracle and thought the turns looked pretty repetitive , it's my feeling against Magus, too, based on my experience as a GM. Happy to be persuaded, though! Maybe I don't know the subclasses?
Forever GMs, what's your preferred class?
(Excuse the very early edit, I forgot some things)
The field benefit for Toxicologist says:
"You can Activate an injury poison as a single action, provided you apply it to a weapon you're holding or a piece of ammunition on your person or loaded in a weapon you're holding. This can be an item you're holding or you can Interact to draw an eligible item or make one using Quick Alchemy as part of the single action; if you can make more than one item with Quick Alchemy (such as with the double brew class feature), you can still Activate only one."
The phrasing "This can be an item you're holding or you can Interact to draw an eligible item or make one using Quick Alchemy as part of the single action;" makes me think I can quick alchemy a poison and apply it to my arrow in one action, then shoot with said bow in the next action.
However, I keep seeing things online saying that it's three actions - make a vial, apply a vial, shoot the bow. But that doesn't make sense, don't I start combat with several vials anyway? and I can "make one using quick alchemy as part of the same action". Surely that means it's just two actions. 1 to quick alchemy and apply a poison, one to shoot?
Would you allow a Starfinder Monk to pick the Bullet Dancer archetype and have it work with Semi Auto Pistols? Do you allow Starfinder Monks? Do you allow Firearm proficiencies to carry over to guns?
I don't think it's that much different to allowing Bullet Dancer to work with Air Repeaters in Pathfinder2e, which is already RAW, but it's whether you would allow it at your tables.
From a flavour perspective, it's the most 90s movie Gun Kata cliche I can think of, but I'm wondering what the consensus is here? The game's been out a while now, and it's been some time since we had the GM Core 'clarification' of "I dunno, play it by ear, you're the GM. Mathematically, Pathfinder and Starfinder are equal but also, Eh? Sometimes they're not balanced, have fun with it and see what works" and the "ranged meta" discussion and all that. But with things mostly calmed down now (and my table not having moved away from Pathfinder yet) I'm curious how tables have actually ended up playing the game.
I love the idea of being a ghost, just, in general. All the other girls got into twilight etc, whereas I always loved the idea of like, being a ghost. Something beautifully tragic about it, you know?
Anyway, having ghost be an archetype just bothers me. Have to pick it instead of normal feats, unless there's free archetype. It's flavourful, but takes up combat feats, so it's in a weird balance spot, and it means I can't make an undead character at first level. It's just annoying. I wanna play a ghost. Gimme a versatile heritage version, pls. I don't need a fly speed, or the ability to go through walls at first level. I just want to be undead, and incorporeal for like, flavour stuff. I know it's always going to be an off-meta choice, but it's so cool! So much room for interesting storytelling!
Oh, and make a Ghost Eidolon, too. A proper one, anger and devotion phantoms don't count.
Prefacing this with: I don't think every class from Pathfinder has a place in Starfinder, but I do think some classes would work really well.
Thaumaturges use SCP style items, right? What if your backstory is that you got your implements from the backrooms the Ghost Levels in Absolom station.
A gun that shoots before you think to pull the trigger. A pocket mirror that allows you to be in two places at once? A sports jersey that, when held, seems to make everyone around you just... better? A can of coke that never seems to empty? They all feel like the kind of items you'd get in Control, in The Oldest House.
Do you think they'll ever make a fully portal based, teleport-y class? It's kinda like shifter for me, there's a lot of classes in the game that *kinda* fulfill the fantasy (Magus subclass, Psychic Subclass for teleport-y, Druid and Animist subclasses for Shifter), but there's no classes that fully capture the fantasy of, like, Blink from the X-Men. Or spot from Across the Spider-Verse
I'm planning a megadungeon inspired by the videogame Prey. Something I love about that game is the idea that different areas are locked behind different scientists' keycards, and I think that's an easily applicable puzzle to port to Starfinder (which a very hard computers check to hack the door would also work, of course. I like how Paizo handles doors, spells/tools aren't an insta win, it feels earned).
But I thought - derelict research ship, only recently broken by experiments gone wrong - What's good ideas for puzzles/puzzle hazard rooms?
I've already thought of rooms underwater from broken Kalo pipes; rooms with glitchy, variable gravity; rooms with atmosphere/biomes that can be enabled/disabled (Idea stolen Metroid: Other M, I'm ashamed to admit), but most of these are hazards, rather than typical dungeon puzzles.
I weirdly think Sci Fi might have an easier time for puzzles than fantasy, due to its closer parity to modern day and the kinds of puzzle solving that can happen in modern day, but I'm drawing a blank, so I dunno. I don't want to just throw in arbitrary riddles or anything, you know? Anyone have any success adding dungeon puzzles to their Starfinder games? Any ideas for me for any more hazards?