Class Preview: The Envoy

Sounds exciting!

Also, 5th and 6th paragraph are the same/repeated.

Sounds exciting!

Also, 5th and 6th paragraph are the almost the same/repeated.

EDIT:Oh, Irony, you cruel mistress.

So are the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs.

I hope that expertise day either is useable after knowing the result of the main roll or is not limited to a few times a day. There's nothing worse than wasting a limited resource on a roll that turns out to be either a success without adding the bonus or so low it's a clear failure even with it.

I sent a note to the blog folks about the repeating paragraphs. Should be fixed at some point.
:D

Sounds exciting!

Also, 5th and 6th paragraph are the almost the same/repeated.

EDIT:Oh, Irony, you cruel mistress.

Well played. 10/10.

The repetitive and redundant paragraphs have been fixed and reduced. :)

And that's just one potential improvisation someone can take? Holy cow. I feel like this class is going to be similar to the investigator but more charisma based. May need to take a second look at the class after all

So are the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs.

I hope that expertise day either is useable after knowing the result of the main roll or is not limited to a few times a day. There's nothing worse than wasting a limited resource on a roll that turns out to be either a success without adding the bonus or so low it's a clear failure even with it.

While there are specific circumstances that might cause an envoy to decide not to add her expertise die (such as special knacks that give her other options if she skips adding it), there is no daily or resource limit to how often she can add the expertise die.

And that's just one potential improvisation someone can take? Holy cow. I feel like this class is going to be similar to the investigator but more charisma based. May need to take a second look at the class after all

Yep! Heck, that's even only one of the 1st-level improvisations you can pick. There are also improvisations you can't select until higher levels (4th, 6th, and 8th).

AND you get expertise talents.

And that's just one potential improvisation someone can take? Holy cow. I feel like this class is going to be similar to the investigator but more charisma based. May need to take a second look at the class after all

Just one possibility, and notably, as the blog states, this is a 1st-level option. Some of the higher level options...well, you'll want to check them out!

EDIT: Ninjaed by Owen by 20 seconds about the higher-level options!

Yes! Ahhh, I knew when I first heard about the Envoy that it would be my class and this preview just sold it for me. Now I just have to figure out a race...

Proficiency... and then specialization? Interesting.

Confirmed:
* same set of saves we have now, with varying progressions
* multiple attack bonus progressions, likely the same three we have now (with envoys being a 3/4 BAB class)
* points/level being class-based
* class skills are still a thing
* the flat-footed condition still exists
* "simple" weapons are now apparently "basic" weapons

Improved and Greater Feint still exist, which suggests the Improved and Greater maneuver feats in general might still exist - but feint isn't technically a maneuver anyway, so we shouldn't read too much into that.

i waiting to see the solarian class with impatience.

Feels like the Rogue Trader from Fantasy Flight Games' version of Rogue Trader.

This is a good thing.

Now if the Soldier is like the Arch Militant that would also be good. :)

... Paizo, Paizo, Paizo.

I'm buying Starfinder. There's no need to torment me so!

When do we get to learn more about the Themes available to this class?

When do we get to learn more about the Themes available to this class?

We may well get to a Themes preview blog, just depending on how many things we need to preview and weeks left until the book is out, but it isn't likely to be connected to the classes specifically.

“You make your way in the universe with a charming smile, quick wit, and keen sense of self-preservation, and excel at getting others to do what you want. You might be a trickster, hustler, or con artist, or you might serve as an actor, ambassador, or businessperson, paving the way for negotiation through kind words or the occasional dirty trick. You are often the group's strategist, using your quick wit and tactical acumen to push your friends to greater heights. You may also be skilled in diplomacy, serving as the face for a starship crew, talking your way into restricted systems or gaining audiences with local politicians or warlords.”

Face, face, face, face, face, face, face. (to the tune of the monty python 'spam' song). There may be a subtle direction to this class.

Has potential, I think. But I worry that people might get the impression that non-envoys shouldn't even bother trying to fill the face or skill monkey roles.

“ But I worry that people might get the impression that non-envoys shouldn't even bother trying to fill the [snip] skill monkey roles.

No risk of that. :)

From what I've read about each class, I've been torn between an Envoy and a Mechanic (with an AI specialization) for my first PC. This post just made this decision harder! Owen, can you reveal whether there are any particular branching specializations within the Envoy class, akin to the Mechanic's AI or Drone ally progression?

Just noticed he has a tail cuff/ring. That is awesome!

Voss wrote:

“ But I worry that people might get the impression that non-envoys shouldn't even bother trying to fill the [snip] skill monkey roles.

No risk of that. :)

Yes...yes indeed.

Cue ominous laughter.

Why is the interesting part (the operative word in this case being why).

Yes...yes indeed.

Cue ominous laughter.

Why is the interesting part (the operative word in this case being why).

Indeed?

Just noticed he has a tail cuff/ring. That is awesome!

Seeing the color markings on the face makes me think the he is a SHE. Wasn't something said about the female Vesk being the colorful ones? Which is a cool reversal and makes me want to play a female Vesk mechanic who's a mix of Kaylee and Jayne from Firefly. If that's possible with Vesk that is.

Mark Seifter wrote:

Yes...yes indeed.

Cue ominous laughter.

Why is the interesting part (the operative word in this case being why).

Indeed?

It seems you goblins may be too clever for my hidden clues. Too clever indeed.

TheGoofyGE3K wrote:

Just noticed he has a tail cuff/ring. That is awesome!

Seeing the color markings on the face makes me think the he is a SHE. Wasn't something said about the female Vesk being the colorful ones? Which is a cool reversal and makes me want to play a female Vesk mechanic who's a mix of Kaylee and Jayne from Firefly. If that's possible with Vesk that is.

They were subtle enough that I didn't caTch it. That sounds like a fun character combo

From what I've read about each class, I've been torn between an Envoy and a Mechanic (with an AI specialization) for my first PC. This post just made this decision harder! Owen, can you reveal whether there are any particular branching specializations within the Envoy class, akin to the Mechanic's AI or Drone ally progression?

There's nothing that extreme. There are improvisations that build on improvisations, and the same with expertise talents. So you could build an envoy heavily focused on just a few skills if you really wanted to... but you can branch out of that as soon as your next class feature choice, so it's more flexible than the mechanic's branching options.

Seeing the color markings on the face makes me think the he is a SHE. Wasn't something said about the female Vesk being the colorful ones? Which is a cool reversal and makes me want to play a female Vesk mechanic who's a mix of Kaylee and Jayne from Firefly. If that's possible with Vesk that is.

There's absolutely nothing stopping you from playing a likable, cheerful, competent vesk mechanic!

...

Yes.

I wonder what sense-dependent will mean. Is it the replacement for mind-affecting?

Also, the inability to apply feats to this seems odd. It prevents a lot of the creative uses for abilities I have come to expect from Pathfinder.

I wonder what sense-dependent will mean. Is it the replacement for mind-affecting?

Also, the inability to apply feats to this seems odd. It prevents a lot of the creative uses for abilities I have come to expect from Pathfinder.

It gives you a guaranteed successful feint (right from first level) with the chance to apply it to everybody. Allowing it to combo with feint improvements would push envoys into all building mass feint builds.

Interesting.

It also looks like the language and writing style is different for Starfinder, too. No more third-person perspective and lower-case class feature terms.

I wonder what sense-dependent will mean. Is it the replacement for mind-affecting?

It is not.

Do we know what these resolve points are?

I wonder what sense-dependent will mean. Is it the replacement for mind-affecting?

Also, the inability to apply feats to this seems odd. It prevents a lot of the creative uses for abilities I have come to expect from Pathfinder.

I'd bet it means something along the lines of requiring the ability to detect the user by some means and to be able to kind of tell what they're doing in some fashion, since a staple of space opera settings is creatures that sense the world with different senses than a standard human-ish character might, so it can kind of cover a wide variety of possible targets without having to take a bunch of options for a sense you might encounter once or twice.

This is of course, all complete speculation with no knowledge. Basically a wild guess

CoeusFreeze wrote:

I wonder what sense-dependent will mean. Is it the replacement for mind-affecting?

It is not.

I thought it was more like the equivalent of bardic performance being audible or visible. For the clever feint to work, something has to be able to "sense" you, rather than listing the various ways one can sense.

If that's the case, it seems like an elegant way of handling it.

Crusader3025 wrote:

Seeing the color markings on the face makes me think the he is a SHE. Wasn't something said about the female Vesk being the colorful ones? Which is a cool reversal and makes me want to play a female Vesk mechanic who's a mix of Kaylee and Jayne from Firefly. If that's possible with Vesk that is.

There's absolutely nothing stopping you from playing a likable, cheerful, competent vesk mechanic!

with a REALLY BIG GUN! :-)

OR a ratfolk bounty hunter (now who does that remind us of? :-) )

Anyone got any tape?

Crusader3025 wrote:

TheGoofyGE3K wrote:

Just noticed he has a tail cuff/ring. That is awesome!

Seeing the color markings on the face makes me think the he is a SHE. Wasn't something said about the female Vesk being the colorful ones? Which is a cool reversal and makes me want to play a female Vesk mechanic who's a mix of Kaylee and Jayne from Firefly. If that's possible with Vesk that is.

They were subtle enough that I didn't caTch it. That sounds like a fun character combo

Just imagine the Vesk mechanic (think the one in the post on the race) saying "You are beginning to damage my calm." :-)

Do we know what these resolve points are?

It's a pool of points every character has to power certain abilities, and by default can be used to recover from wounds with a short rest.

Interesting I can think of a few people in my group who will like this class. Not quite my style, but certainly fun, and something I may try eventually.

Looking forward to the Solarion, but I think it'll be another 4 weeks. Sad face.

So do all classes get Weapon Specialization, or just the Envoy? I thought it would be a Soldier specific thing.

Any chance you could give us a "wish list" for a preview release schedule? Or something like that?

(Also, for the Soldier Class, please give them Heal and Perception as Class Skills. Guard duty and first aid are things they would know probably better than anyone other class).

It's possible that specialization is the mechanism for making damage scale by level, as we have seen elsewhere is the plan.

So do all classes get Weapon Specialization, or just the Envoy? I thought it would be a Soldier specific thing.

As will soon be clear, every class gets weapons specialization.... with some weapons. We'll discuss why that makes the soldier happy when we do the solider class preview. :)

So I see resolve can be used with class abilities cool. There is base attack bonus, cool. Also like the special thing Envoy can do with expertise die. I like the look of this a great deal. After seeing this it gives me some insight into things. Proficiency and specializations sound good. This answered more questions then I would have first guessed. Well done. Damage tweaks are easy to do if they are not in the game. Cool classes are vital. I did not think I would like Envoy as much as I do.

Dave2

Nice to see some Investigator style in the class, maybe they can get a combat improvisation to add extra die to attack rolls too? It looks like we have the same BAB progression and iterative attack process as we know from 3.X?

Nice to see some Investigator style in the class, maybe they can get a combat improvisation to add extra die to attack rolls too? It looks like we have the same BAB progression and iterative attack process as we know from 3.X?

Perhaps, though I'm pretty sure someone in the playtest attacked twice at level 2

Regarding "Sense-Dependent", that could be in part to prevent use in starship combat and the like.

Envoy is not my preferred class type, but it certainly looks like it's good at what it does. :)

Really looking forward to the previews of the other classes!

Looks interesting and the PDF is quite cheap. Does this mean we might get Starfinder: The Adventure Card Game eventually?

Nice to see some Investigator style in the class, maybe they can get a combat improvisation to add extra die to attack rolls too? It looks like we have the same BAB progression and iterative attack process as we know from 3.X?

If there's level scaling damage, then you'd think they'd have to remove iterative attacks in order to keep DPR by level proportional to the HPs of Bestiary monsters by CR. (This assuming that Bestiary HPs will be proportional to the ones they'd have in Starfinder after conversion.)

I'm hoping they've removed iterative attacks. One of the things that makes high level play bog down so much...

In any case, I love the feel of this class. I feel like the designers have been taking the parts of Pathfinder classes that worked best, and putting them together to form new classes. Hope the trend continues!

Torbyne wrote:

Nice to see some Investigator style in the class, maybe they can get a combat improvisation to add extra die to attack rolls too? It looks like we have the same BAB progression and iterative attack process as we know from 3.X?

Perhaps, though I'm pretty sure someone in the playtest attacked twice at level 2

True but that might have just been a Solarion version of Flurry of Blows...