So when my player showed up to play Starfinder with my friends and I we asked what class he would choose. He said Mechanic which was strange because we all thought he was going to play the Solarian (It was just the thing he couldn't stop talking about). He said he was not a fan of how it turned out. A lot of great ideas but it doesn’t feel right to him. To be honest I felt kind of the same. He basically said, “I thought it was going to have access to more powers. I don't really feel the balance between powers like I thought there was going to be. Like a Jedi.” I wanted him to be able to play the class he wanted too so we sat down and looked at it and tweeked it. Below is what we came up with.
The Solarian is the master of cosmic powers. When in combat they ride the line between light and dark, offense and defense. The longer they stay in a particular mode the more powerful they become while in that mode.
Stellar Modes: While in photon mode you gain a +1 to damage rolls. While in graviton mode you gain a +1 bonus to your AC as long as you are able to move. These continue to grow as states in the book.
Reasoning: While in pho mode you are going all out to damage your opponents using pure cosmic fire to do this, thus +1 to damage. While in grav mode you are using gravity to make yourself lighter and harder to hit. That is why being tied down does not give you this bonus. It also seemed more appropriate then the +1 to reflex.
Revelations learned: At every even lvl you learn 2 revelations. At these lvls you get 1 power from the Photon list and 1 from the Graviton list. (There is a balance to this below! Keep reading.)
Reasoning: Revelations are either combat or utility oriented. But being a melee character you are almost punished for choosing something that doesn’t do damage. Why would you choose Astrologic Sense or Hypnotic Glow when you can set people on fire? This will help that and also keep you viable outside of combat. In our view from reading the class the primary ability scores for this class below:
1) Str/Cha
2) Dex/Con
3) Int/Wis.
Int/Wis is at the bottom so considering this you would want some utility outside of combat.
Using your Revelations: At the start of combat you choose what path you want to attune. Either photon or graviton and while in that mode you can ONLY use powers associated to that mode. (Thread explodes with hate)
Reasoning: This is to prevent the class from looping the same abilities at the start of each battle. Reading discussions and looking at what abilities a lot of people are leaning towards I can see characters spending the first 3 rounds using the same abilities to power up. That can get stale. This for one balances the character while at the same time giving you more abilities. But you don’t have access to all of them at once.
Bonuses for being attune or fully attuned: Most abilities have bonuses for being attune or fully attuned. We changed this to be activated starting the 2nd round and not the 1st. So you start combat either pho or grav. Once the 2nd round starts you can use the increased power version of the ability. Then the 3rd round you are able to use your zenith if you want. Example below: “Stellar Rush (Su): As a standard action, you can wreathe yourself in stellar fire and make a charge without the penalties (see page 248). From the 2nd round and after, you can substitute a bull rush for the melee attack at the end of the charge. Whether or not you succeed at the bull rush, the target takes 2d6 fire damage (Reflex half). This damage increases by 1d6 at 6th level and every 2 levels thereafter.”
Reasoning: Since we changed how revelations work we have to also change how this bonus works. This creates kind of a “Gambit system”. You can either expel your energy to use a zenith power once you become fully attuned or you can save that energy to increase your basic abilities. Since most of the zenith abilities are situational you are not punished for not using them since you get benefits while fully attuned.
He is currently at lvl 3 right now and the party really likes the change. He can choose at the start of combat what he feels will be better for the encounter and it’s working well with the space monk style. Thought some might like to read so I wanted to share.
TLDR: Gave +1 AC instead of reflex. Gave 2 Revelations instead of 1 every two levels but you can only use Revelations while in a certain mode.
If you like cool. If you don't that's ok too. I wrote this up pretty fast so hopefully it makes sense. If it doesn't I will clarify if needed.