Class Preview: The Mystic

Saturday, May 20, 2017

The setting of Starfinder is very much a science fantasy universe, with a lot of science fiction ideas mashed together with more fantastical and supernatural concepts. This isn't an accident, but an inevitable conclusion to asking the question "What happens if advanced technology becomes commonplace in the Pathfinder universe?" In Starfinder, it's well accepted that there are forces beyond the understanding of pure science which, whether you want to refer to them as arcane, divine, or psychic, are best thought of as just "magic." There are options for players who want to add just a little magic to their character (ranging from the Connection Inkling and Psychic Power feats to the phrenic adept archetype, which can be accessed by any class), but significant magical ability is primarily in the hands of the mystic and technomancer classes.

We'll talk about the technomancer later on, but for now, here's the description the mystic gets in the Starfinder Core Rulebook:

You understand that what most people call magic is simply an expression of the innate connection between all things, and you intuitively tap into this unseen power to create strange effects. You may conceptualize the source of your magic as divine grace, a manipulation of fundamental energy, or an unlocking of psychic potential, but always with the knowledge that you are a conduit channeling forces greater than yourself. Though you may study, you understand that spellcasting—like all existence—is messy and intuitive, and you specialize in biology and mental systems too complex to be perfectly understood by science. You sense the intangible and exploit your bonds with others, whether to bolster them or bend them to your will.

While a great deal of a mystic's focus is on more esoteric truths that are represented by class features, they are still scholarly enough to gain 6 skill points per level and have 12 class skills. Since their abilities may require attack rolls in combat, they have the same average base attack bonus as the envoy and operative, but only gain proficiency (and eventually specialization) with light armor, small arms, and basic melee weapons. Their focus on comprehending the secrets of existence give them a good Will save progression, and makes Wisdom their key ability score.

Mystics' studies also grant them access to mystic spells, ranging from 0-level to 6th level, which represent a significant part of their power. Mystic spells are more likely to focus on philosophy, natural systems, mental endeavors, and living things than the more physics- and technology-oriented technomancer spells. This gives them access to numerous charm and emotion spells, spells focusing on telepathy and thought, and spells that cure or restore balance to living things. However, they also have some powers drawn from natural forces such as radiation and some force-based telekinetic powers. How a mystic operates can be strongly influenced by their choice of spells known—fear, force blast, and hold person are all useful 2nd-level offensive mystic spells, but each comes with its own advantages and limitations.

All mystics gain some ability to link to other creatures, which manifests as a healing touch used once per day at 1st level, but expands into a mindlink you can establish with creatures by touch, and eventually a telepathic bond you can maintain with up to six creatures at a time. Mystics can gain other powers that work through this connection, depending on their chosen connection.

What's a connection, you ask? Much of the focus of a mystic comes from their choice of a connection: a link to some force that the mystic sees as the source of their power, and which helps shape their approach to their abilities. Many mystics serve as clergy and see their gods as the source of their powers (though the priest theme is available to a character of any class), but a connection can also be to a philosophy, a mysterious patron, or nearly anything else a player chooses. Regardless of what power fuels the mystic's connection, each connection has a specific focus that grants the mystic a set of powers and bonus spells known. The mystic selects from the akashic, empath, healer, mindbreaker, overlord, or star shaman connection, which grant powers ranging from access to the Akashic Record to the power to explode heads.

Here's a sample of a connection power, this one gained by mindbreakers at 3rd level.

Backlash (SU)

Whenever a foe succeeds at a Will save against one of your spells and completely negates the effect, that foe takes 1 nonlethal damage for each mystic level you have. This is a mind-affecting pain effect.

Having examined the envoy, mystic and operative, next week we'll preview our most combatant-focused class, the soldier!

Owen K.C. Stephens
Developer

Meet the Iconics: Keskodai

Monday, May 15, 2017

The countdown to Starfinder is on! We're highlighting the iconic characters and core classes that appear throughout the pages and covers the Starfinder line. Today we meet Keskodai, the iconic mystic!

Illustration by Remko Troost

For those inducted into the faith of Pharasma, the Lady of Graves, death is not an ending, but a doorway: an entry into a new existence and way of being. The shirren Keskodai understands this transition well, and greets it with the joyful reverence it deserves—an outlook that's not always comforting to the patients in his medical bay.

Keskodai grew up in the burning deserts of Fullbright, the side of tidally locked Verces that's always turned toward the sun. Though cosmopolitan, his hometown of Takoris was primarily shirren, having been an early satellite settlement of the original shirren colony on that world. The child of a priest of Hylax, the Forever Queen, Keskodai grew up steeped in the values of friendship and diplomacy, and felt a deep connection to the divine, yet chafed at the idea of serving the same god as his parent. Exactly which god he'd serve instead remained unclear, until the coming of the Gray Shakes.

Believed to be the result of a biotech experiment gone wrong at the local university, the plague called the Gray Shakes burned through the city like a wildfire, turning shirrens' chitin gray, rotting off their antennae, and eating away at their telepathy and motor function, leaving them awake but unable to communicate until they finally expired. In the weeks it took the local government to find a cure, thirty percent of the city's shirren population died.

In the midst of this horror, a young Keskodai first encountered priests of Pharasma, black-robed beings of all different races who'd come at news of the plague. Somberly, the Pharasmins walked among the afflicted, offering magical healing where they could and comfort to those too far gone, whispering to them of the Cycle of Souls and the new worlds that awaited them. The beauty of their ministry moved Keskodai, and he quickly joined their hospice work, leaving home to study at a temple in the Ring of Nations once the plague was safely contained.

After years as an initiate, Keskodai returned home a full priest of Lady of Graves, ready to tend to his people. He quickly fell in love with two members of his congregation, a female-host couple, and the three soon joined arms in marriage. Yet as much as he loved his community and his partners, a part of him remained unsatisfied. That part of every shirren that thrills at choice and decision-making began to wonder: Had he made the right choice in coming home? In choosing a life so similar to his parent? How could he know if he wanted this when there was still so much out there that he'd never experienced? The desire to explore continued to grow, until at last, after the birth of their first son, he and his partners sat down and made a plan. He would leave and see the galaxy, taking their child with him to expose him to the same new experiences. Once the child was old enough to leave his cradle-jar, Keskodai would decide whether he'd seen enough to return in good conscience, in which case both of them be welcomed with open arms. If not, the child would return alone.

In his effort to see as many worlds as possible, Keskodai took to signing on with freelance adventurers and starship crews, particularly those headed out beyond the edges of the solar system. While quite capable in combat, he prefers to act as the ship's medic, trusting that his mercenary companions will give him plenty of opportunities to employ his goddess-granted magic in patching up the broken or blessing them on their journey into the Great Beyond. The cheerful manner in which he talks about death often initially disturbs those under his care, yet anyone who spends much time with the shirren quickly learns that his even-keeled, fatalistic approach to life and death doesn't make him cavalier about it: for him, to give less than his best effort in healing his friends would be to risk them dying before their appointed time—a loss for him, and a grave failure in his duty to his goddess.

As with many shirren, Keskodai is a team player, always ready to throw in to help others, and a social butterfly who loves meeting new people. A crewmate once called him "the galaxy's friendliest death priest," and he wears the badge with pride. Though quite fond of option bars and other artificial means of stimulating his choice centers, he's careful not to let himself overindulge... usually. More often he satisfies his need for independence by customizing his gear—though he doesn't consider himself vain, Keskodai is intensely proud of the aesthetics of his gear, his collection of trophies, and his mustache (which he thinks lends him an air of gravitas). His greatest pride, however, is his son Chkoresk, still in his larval stage. Like many shirren parents, Keskodai constantly carries Chkoresk—affectionately nicknamed "Chk Chk"—around in a heavily fortified cradle-jar designed to let Chk Chk learn about the world from relative safety. While Chk Chk isn't old enough to speak yet, his telepathy only good enough to grant brief blasts of childlike emotion, Keskodai holds conversations with him regularly, with Chk Chk tapping on the glass to communicate his answers.

Though Keskodai is generally as easygoing as he appears, he still has his demons. The Gray Shakes tragedy left him deeply distrustful of certain types of research and technology, and he's constantly torn between his faith in individual freedom and his desire to protect the community through heavy government regulation. Worse, he's come to love the life of a wanderer and the friends he's made along the way, and deeply fears the day when Chk Chk grows old enough to return home, and Keskodai has to choose whether to head back to Verces with him, or continue on alone.

James L. Sutter
Creative Director