|
re. your character: seems fine.
A little mini-remark: you can save a few credits for something else if you want (like Traveling Outfit etc.) since Comm' Unit is included in all Armor of level or +, and the Comm' Unit has a flashlight...
re. being underwhelmed: I only ran one game of SFS so far (2nd tomorrow) but it is lower key than PFS (or at least than PFS is now, for sure). So wait till you see how things go, and do not compare it directly to Pathfinder.
It seems like your character will do just fine, efficiently.
That cannon'll BLAM people!
|
Gummy Bear's Soldier here. Idk if I just built the character poorly, but I feel so... limited. Feedback appreciated! Are we still allowed to take ten for dayjob checks?
I like your idea for a soldier. My only question is this, for someone taking Blitz skill (meant to get in the thick of fighting for Melee, Why did you pick a basic melee weapon, and not something that does 1d8+? I mean, you have a great ranged weapon, but you aren't built to be ranged, you are built to be melee.
As you can see from my Soldier, I put everything I could into melee, including making him 18 STR, which is almost a necessary thing in this game (at least from what I have read). Yes, like Fighters in PFS you are limited in skills, but you make up for it in pure damage, so go for it that way!
On the other hand, if you wanted to go ranged, swap your str and dex points!
|
Gummy Bear's Soldier here. Idk if I just built the character poorly, but I feel so... limited. Feedback appreciated! Are we still allowed to take ten for dayjob checks?
I understand your sentiments. Much as the soldier is clearly improved from the PF fighter, it's main role is still to hit things until they stop moving. If you want to play a melee character with more ... jazz ... you can consider the solarian, although if you have been following the forums, you would know there is much debate about the viability of that class. (Which I'm choosing to ignore. :) ) In fact, there is a running joke right now that all viable builds should start with one level of soldier (blitz). Lol!
On your build specifically, I echo Madrigal in that blitz solders are meant to quickly get into the enemies' faces, and so is primarily a melee build. So you might want to start by getting the best melee weapon you can get first, then seeing what ranged weapon you can still afford after that, since you are likely to use your melee weapon more often than your ranged one. In fact, I would recommend just getting a small arm instead. If you need to switch from melee to range, you can take a swift action to change from double-gripping your two-handed advanced melee weapon, move action to withdraw your small arm, then standard to start shooting. Then if you need to close in to attack again, use move action to close in and sheathe weapon at the same time, swift action to double-grip your melee weapon, then standard to attack.
Good two-handed advanced melee weapons to consider are:
- tactical doshko: 1d12!!! At 1st level!!! Of course, it is unwieldy, so you can't make AoOs or multiple attacks with it. Still worth considering if you think about how often AoOs come up, and at level 1 with relatively low to-hit bonus, multiple attacks might not be that viable just yet.
- tactical pike: Just 1d8 in comparison but reach!!! Unlike PF, reach weapons do threaten adjacent squares as well, so it brings up good tactical options.
- flame doshko, ember: Might be out of your price range at level 1 at 750 credits, but when you can afford it, it targets EAC and causes Wound when it crits. However, you might to buy a spare battery in case you use up all 20 charges. (Unlikely but still possible.)
Of course, you can build a solid ranged soldier also, 'cos the tactical cannon is just so cool. But in that case, you might want to choose a different fighting style, e.g. sharpshoot. In this case, you would need to up Dex, likely at least to 16, but str can technically stay at 10. (But 12 str comes from Vesk.)
As for the stats, I am sitting on the fence on how important it is to get your key stat to 18. The AC in SF aren't as daunting in PF, but a +1 to hit is still good. (Soldiers are really the only class that can viably get a +6 to attack at level 1, 18 on str/dex, +1 BAB, +1 from weapon focus). On the other hand, high con for more SP is also good. On the other hand, with out of combat healing relatively easier, high SP/HP might not be as critical. (But this is from only one game so far.)
You might also feel underwhelmed because of the skills? Then you might want to reconsider putting a point in profession, as all you mostly get from it is day jobs. With the credits earned simply being twice your day job roll, assuming you take 10, that is just 28 credits per scenario. And each level, you only increase that by 2 credits (i.e. by putting 1 skill rank). You can see from the costs of equipments that even from tier 2 onwards, that 28 x 3 = 84 credits becomes very insignificant. Training in acrobatics or intimidate can open up more combat, and possibly out of combat, options.
Most importantly, please play a character that you feel you would enjoy, especially as your first SFS. As mentioned earlier, I think we have pretty much most areas covered, so don't let yourself be constrained by party mix.
And also no rush. I'll only be able to fully prep the game over the weekend. So while I'll likely open up the gameplay for some RP first, the game proper likely won't start til Sunday. So take your time to decide on your character. :)
|
Thanks for all the advice! An in your face melee character is what I was going for (hence blitz), but I think I'll fiddle with it more and see where that takes me.
I will definitely change the weapons, that reaction cannon was just so cool :) might have to make a ranged specialist next!
The skill points were the major rub for me, but if they become a huge problem then I'll just rebuild after this game into something else! :)
Immediate changes: I'll take 2 points out of dex and into str and repurpose my profession skill point.
EDIT: What page does it say armor gets a comm unit AND a flashlight?! That's great!
|
|
It is unintuitively at page 470 under Communication.
Planetary
Personal comm units are common, inexpensive devices that are capable of communicating with each other on a single planet or between ships orbiting a given world. Small enough to be carried in a pocket, they also come automatically integrated into all armor of 1st level or higher.
And under the equipments section, page 218, under Comm Unit, it states that comm units are flashlights, and also tier-0 computers. Which is strange 'cos an actual tier-0 computer, with L bulk costs 55 credits, while a personal comm unit costs 7. And comes free with armor. (edit: Scratch that. Got confused between tier-0 and tier-1.)
|
|
It is unintuitively at page 470 under Communication.
Planetary
Personal comm units are common, inexpensive devices that are capable of communicating with each other on a single planet or between ships orbiting a given world. Small enough to be carried in a pocket, they also come automatically integrated into all armor of 1st level or higher.And under the equipments section, page 218, under Comm Unit, it states that comm units are flashlights, and also tier-0 computers.
Which is strange 'cos an actual tier-0 computer, with L bulk costs 55 credits, while a personal comm unit costs 7. And comes free with armor.(edit: Scratch that. Got confused between tier-0 and tier-1.)
So, to sum up (and make sure I got it), everyone who has level 1+ armor has a built in comm unit, and thus a flashlight. So, basically, everyone has a light source built into the armor, so no need to carry torches? Nice! Still makes Low-Light Vision/Darkvision a good thing during times when armor isn't worn, but when in a "dungeon" and your hands are used to hold weapon(s), having it built in is nice.
So, unless I am mistaken then, you can basically forego both a personal comm unit and a flashlight if you buy -and wear- armor, any armor?
And you can upgrade the personal comm unit in armor to a, say, tier-1 computer just as with a regular personal comm unit (so, if my calculations are correct, a tier-1 computer upgrade with artificial personality, range I and self-charging would cost 1.1 x (50 + 5 + 5 + 5) = 71.5, rounding up to 72 credits)?
Considering it is an upgrade to the personal comm unit, I assume it does not also need the miniaturisation quality? Or does it? Asking so I can calculate the cost since I am considering getting such an upgrade for the armor's comm unit; after all, Expert Rig is too far away yet.
I have to admit that does sound slightly weird when we are talking armor like second skin which is basically a body stocking more or less, but then again it can seal up and provide protection against vacuum and radiation for a while so a tiny comm unit that is also a flashlight and an actual computer does not really seem so far-fetched.
|
like Fighters in PFS you are limited in skills
I find SFS way nicer to fighters skill-wise. You have 4 points (double vs. PFS), and there are a lot less skills on the list. I do not feel Soldiers are lame skill-wise. Less than other classes, yes, but not useless.
p 218 for what Comm Units do (Computer, Flashlight, Calculator, can play Space-Tetris...), as stated above, however, on p 219 the table states that the personal comm unit is to be held in 1 hand. So, until I find something specific in the rules, I imagine it is up to GMs to decide whether you can have the flashlight on and aim it here and there while having both hands busy with holding a weapon (like: is the Comm Unit integrated in the chest and thus can only shine in front, in the arm... or is part of the armor but needs to be pulled out to be used?).
It does say "integrated" in the armor...
It is p 430 for the fact that armor has a Comm Unit (under Planetary)
There are other little "tidbits" that are nice to know:
p. 196 (top left) - says armor anchors your feet in 0 G situations
p. 196 (bottom) - states armor protects from all space hazards (no air etc.) for 1 day/level useable in hour increments... and has an interesting thing about being able to hack an enemy's suit and turning the system off!
re. F Castor and Second Skin w. a Comm Unit... my personal take on it, is that you have a Comm Unit sticking out of the armor on your arm (p 118 the sexy Lashunta has "armor" that exposes legs & bellybutton (!) but she has some sort of 3 D hologram popping out of her... Comm Unit or some such thing.
I have not had time to look into Computers at all (still working on my Space Combat cheat cards etc.), so no idea about any of that, but learning thanks to you!
|
|
Oh yes, almost forgot. I would like to determine the default marching order. Assuming worst case scenario of single file, based on my understsanding of your characters, this is what I'm assuming.
1. Hakrinag
2. Eli
3. Jonas
4. Asier-23-7
5. Pangea-Epsilon
6. Madrigal
Let me know if you have other suggestions, though.
If space permits for double or triple file, I'll following according to the above order, i.e.
1-2
3-4
5-6
or
1-2-3
4-5-6
@Asier-23-7, your character still doesn't have an avatar. Can you drop an icon at the maps and handouts?
|
|
Free "bullets"!
Maybe you all spotted this in the FAQ:
Most weapons are sold fully loaded, and their listed bulk includes the bulk of their ammunition. For weapons that are sold without ammunition (such as grenade launchers and missile launchers), the bulk listed with the weapon is still the bulk of a fully loaded weapon.
Just in case you missed it... I love it (I created a Soldier, with a pistol... but no bullets! Had no Credits left after Heavy Armor and Pike!).
Marching order seems fine to me, sure. :-)
Sooo...
This is still on, right?
Sure!
|
|
How do you think this works, GM Kuey?
Link --> Promotional Boon
one of these is:
Promotional Bonus (Promotional Boon)
(at the bottom you find:)
Alternatively, once per scenario, while wearing a Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Faction Pin, you may add 2d4 to a Culture skill check. For this roll you also treat Culture as if you were trained, even if you don’t have a rank in it.
So, does this mean we can, as of now, slot this boon, and use one of our PFS Faction pins for a 1 time Culture roll bonus? (it is specified that it is PFS not SFS for this one Culture roll - having to do with pre-Gap knowledge)
NOTE: I do not care much if I slot this now or not, mainly trying to get some feedback on how you think it works since this Boon slotting is new
|
|
How do you think this works, GM Kuey?
** spoiler omitted **
Yes, I think that is how it works. Although only one promotional boon can be slotted per scenario. However, this quest is unique in that it states explicitly that no boon slots are available. I read somewhere that they want to keep this quest more beginner friendly by levelling the playing field.
A question about PbP SFS...
Can you change a character's entire build from game to game? That is, e.g. have Jonas Bishop be a Mechanic in one SFS game and then after that finishes and he gets in another SFS PbP you change his build and make him, say, a Soldier or an Operative or a Technomancer.
|
|
Correct, it's in the SFS Guide
As Eli said
Between games you can change things 100% (race, class...) as well as your gear (except for consumables spent: if you bought and used a Healing Potion, then you will have 1000 Cr. minus that cost when you make a new character)
And, as Eli said, you can do that up to level 2, so long as you did not play once at lvl 2
|
|
And, as Eli said, you can do that up to level 2, so long as you did not play once at lvl 2
Technically, I think that would be "so long as you did not play once at lvl 2 or above", for those who pile on GM credits on to a character. :)
Anyway, more to the point, as each of the five quests can be played independently, you could technically change your character between each quest. So if you want to change in between for the purpose of trying different builds, let me know in advance. Although I don't prefer it as we did take some time to sort out what each of us would play, I would much rather everyone play with something they enjoy. :)
|
|
Technically, I think that would be "so long as you did not play once at lvl 2 or above", for those who pile on GM credits on to a character. :)
Practically, not technically xD
The rules are clear, you can only change level 1 characters... but, you are right in practice (since they are never played, you can do what you want, the Aspis are not yet monitoring our homes)
|
|
As we are entering a starship for the first time, would like to reconfirm the various starship roles.
Captain: Mardrigal
Pilot: Eli
Engineer: Asier-23-7
Science: Jonas
Gunners: Pangea-Epsilon, Hakrinag (both actually have the same gunnery check of +2 so will leave the two of you to decide who will be primary, i.e. take the turret with the more damaging gun)
|
|
We are moving into our first starship combat so am going to put down my guidelines for running it, in an attempt to speed things up in PbP. It would nonetheless likely be slower than regular I imagine these will evolve with more playtest.
General Matters
1. As starship combats benefit from strong coordination among the crew, please actively call for help from the support crew members, e.g. engineer requesting captain for encouragement, gunners requesting pilot target aft of enemy.
2. I'll display the status of each ship in my posts. For friendly ships, everything will be in full, e.g. HP23/55, strength of each shield, life support wrecked. For enemy ships, I will display damage taken by the hulls (so you don't know what is the total hull points), whether each shield is up or down (so you don't know how much more to punch through the shield), and the status of each system (I assume your ship's scanner can clearly determine if the enemy's engine is glitching or not). See the sample at the end of the post.
3. Many ships come with computers that provide bonuses for crew. For example, Loreseeker Tier 2 has mk 1 duonode computer, which provides +1 bonus to any 2 crew actions each round. I would request that when you first enter a ship, to decide before hand which crew members would use the bonus, by default. That way, we save lengthy discussion on who to use them for that round or you forgetting to use them. Generally, it should be to the lowest relevant starship crew skills. However, during combat, each crew have the prerogative to change as necessary, e.g. if aft shields are down and enemy is chasing your tail, science officer just take the bonus to rebalance shield.
Captain
4. The captain can act in any phase so you are free to jump in anytime. This also means I will not wait for the captain and will just keep moving phase to phase, round by round. Thus, I highly recommend you decide and post near the start of each round, depending which crew action you deem most critical for support for that round. Or alternatively, set up a serious of conditions, e.g. if enemy positions to our ship's aft, encourage science officer; otherwise encourage main gunner.
Engineering
5. I considered folding the Engineering Phase into the Helm phase but realise I can't because some of engineer’s actions directly affect actions in that next phase, e.g. should the engineer divert to engines, that increases the speed by 2 which affects the pilot's action; should engineer divert power to shields, science officer may no longer deem it necessary to balance shields.
Helm
6. Pilot: I'll roll the respective pilot checks for purpose of determine turn order (just like for initiative in regular combat). When it is your turn, go ahead and make your rolls, if any, and move the starship in the google slides. Take careful note of the facing, denoted by the arrow head. Make sure you rotate the token in multiples of 60 degrees. Please also mark your path by drawing a scribble line.
7. Science: You can post concurrently with the pilot and do not need to wait for them to post first, as most of your actions would not affect the pilot’s except for perhaps scan.
Gunnery
8. Usually, your starship will have a turret which is loaded with the post powerful weapon. I’ll take it that the main gunner (i.e. the one with the highest gunnery check) will be using this. As for the secondary gunner(s), if any, my understanding of the rules is that you can change which side’s gun to fire each round, i.e. if you were firing the aft gun and in the next round the pilot positioned the front to face the enemy, you can switch immediately to the front gun. I imagine this as while there are guns on different sides of the ship, you are controlling them all from one panel. Separately, for all gunners, together with your attack and damage rolls, please roll the d100 just in case you crit to determine which system is affected.
In the example above,
a. Loreseeker has taken 13 points of hull damage, and the aft shields are down. Power core is glitching and life support is wrecked.
b. Black Angus, the enemy ship, has taken 37 hull damage. Both front and starboard shields are done. Both engine and power care are wrecked.
c. We are currently in the Helm Phase, awaiting actions by both the pilot and science officer. Also, the captain has also yet to post.
|
|
Great! (thanks for the work)
Questions:
a/ when you mention two +1's from the Computer to distribute, that does not include the Pilot, right (the Pilot gets a +1 all the time from the ship's computer?)
b/ does the +1 for Gunnery work for one roll, or would it work for both rolls if we do a Full Blast Attack (forgot name) of 2 attacks at -4/-4 (ie. do we get -3/-4 ... or -3/-3)?
(as for moving from gun to gun, for what it is worth, that was my reading of the rules too and how I ran it in the SFS games I DMed)
Great! (thanks for the work)
Questions:
a/ when you mention two +1's from the Computer to distribute, that does not include the Pilot, right (the Pilot gets a +1 all the time from the ship's computer?)
b/ does the +1 for Gunnery work for one roll, or would it work for both rolls if we do a Full Blast Attack (forgot name) of 2 attacks at -4/-4 (ie. do we get -3/-4 ... or -3/-3)?(as for moving from gun to gun, for what it is worth, that was my reading of the rules too and how I ran it in the SFS games I DMed)
a) I believe the +1 for piloting actually comes from the base frame. If you look at page 295 under Explorer, which the Loreseeker's base frame, you see under Maneuverability that it comes with a +1 to piloting. (Incidentally, the +2 computers come from the basic scanners.)
b) Hmm, this one I am less certain. Quoting from the text (pg 297) under Computer, "an ICM adds a flat circumstance bonus to one or
more starship combat checks", and based on Gunnery Check (pg 320) and Fire at Will (pg 324), it appears that each weapon fire is a separate gunnery check, and so I would rule that the +1 only applies to one of the attack, i.e. -3/-4.
|
|
Here goes for "how the heck do you read it?": under "Fire At Will" Gunnery Move: 'can fire any 2 weapons, regardless of arc'???
I thought Fire At Will meant firing 2 weapons that had the target in their arc (Like Port gun + Turret, or both Turret weapons)... but does this wording mean you can fire 2 weapons at a target even if 1 or 2 of them do not have the target in their arc? What does "regardless of arc" mean?
As for this, I read this as that the respective weapon must still be in the arc that it is trying to target. So for example, if the enemy is at starboard and you only have one gunner, you could Fire at Will to fire both the turret and starboard gun. This is also useful if you have multiple enemies ships at different arcs.
For some of the larger ships, you can have more than one weapon mount per arc. I think they thus specify "regardless of arc" to mean that Fire at Will is not restricted to only firing both the guns that are fixed at the same arc but can fire any two guns.
Moreover, at pg 320 under Range and Arc, it says "The attacking starship can fire a weapon against only ships in the same arc as that weapon". So sure, you can fire both your port and starboard weapons, but your port one still cannot be targeted against a ship in the starboard side.