Starfinder FAQ and Errata Update

I'm so proud of myself for having brought the xenolash issues to Thurston's attention by repeatedly playing xenolash-wielders at his tables.

That's a good thing, right?

Either way, excited to see new errata.

I'm so proud of myself for having brought the xenolash issues to Thurston's attention by repeatedly playing xenolash-wielders at his tables.

That's a good thing, right?

Either way, excited to see new errara!

You know what you did :)

Official post: Any new/updated rules take effect immediately in Starfinder Society. Any changes to legality of options (e.g. making things legal now that we have clarity on issues) will be announced in next month's OP Monthly Update.

Any update on the mechanism for reviewing things that might need an FAQ? A specific place to report them to?

Where are the rules changes to crush? I can't find them in any Alien Archive errata.

Otherwise some really good changes, especially fusions and the Xenolashes

Where are the rules changes to crush? I can't find them in any Alien Archive errata.

Same.

Thank you for updating the fusion seal rules! There are so many OP scenarios that offer PCs useful seals (either as treasure, or as short-term loans) and assume that the PCs can just use them right away that, in my experience, nobody could ever keep the actual rules straight.

I'd also like to highlight the change to how weapon fusions are priced when you move them to higher-level weapons. Paying the difference in cost, rather than half the new level's cost, brings them into agreement with other items in the game that can be upgraded rather than needing to be entirely replaced. Even though I'm pretty sure this means it will cost more to transfer fusions going forward, I appreciate the reasoning behind it.

Love the change to fusion seals, they are finally worth using! The 24 hour cooldown really got in the way of ever using them.

Okay, that Guidance art is proof that we need to unplug Guidance before it comes for us all rockin'.

Otherwise, yay errata! Very exciting, and I hope this is a sign that more questions will be answered :)

Re: new Devastating Throw -
Devastating Throw (Ex): You hurl thrown weapons with frightful strength. You treat the range increments of thrown weapons as 10 feet greater than normal. You can attack with thrown weapons as though they had the line weapon special property (affecting a line equal to their range).

Just to get ahead of this, this refers to "weapons with the Thrown property" and not "thrown weapons," right? 'Cause "thrown weapons" could very plausibly include grenades (cf. CRB p. 183, "grenades are thrown weapons") and a line grenade is terrifying (and confusing!)

Re: entangle, I would have preferred to see the ability itself become less oppressive, rather than removing it from lashes. Yeah I'm talking to you, Coolant Sprayer XD It's a neat ability, but being able to apply it with every hit really slows down combat. Still, step in the right direction!

They will pry the entangle off my Venomcaster from my cold, dead LFAN.

I am ecstatic about the change to fusion seals. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

As a GM I hated telling players that they could not make use of something that the scenario writer was obviously intending to provide for the PCs.

Thank you!

So xenolashes were OP? I don't play Society stuff.

GreyYeti wrote:

Where are the rules changes to crush? I can't find them in any Alien Archive errata.

Same.

The Alien Archive (2nd Printing) errata is now correctly displaying.

So xenolashes were OP? I don't play Society stuff.

Automatic entangle condition on a hit is very strong. Add in reach to apply it on an attack of opportunity (congrats, take a speed penalty as you try to get past me and a -2 to your attack before you get a chance to hit me or an ally) and the usual whip/lash plethora of special qualities (oh, you have a -2 AC from entangled? Now I shall trip or disarm you more easily) and it was a lot.

Sounds great - thanks!

Thanks for all the hard work!

Is there a printer-friendly version of the errata, or am I not seeing it?

Okay, that Guidance art is proof that we need to unplug Guidance before it comes for us all rockin'.

Re: new Devastating Throw -
Devastating Throw (Ex): You hurl thrown weapons with frightful strength. You treat the range increments of thrown weapons as 10 feet greater than normal. You can attack with thrown weapons as though they had the line weapon special property (affecting a line equal to their range).

I mean, it was already a bad idea to give my kiirinta soldier grenades, but giving a creature with the personality of a 6 year old hawked up on pixie sticks the ability to attack with grenades with the line property essentially... *insert Fey cackling here*

Also, yes, Guidance is up to something, we must flee before we are consumed by our Tech Overlord looking sharp.

I am ecstatic about the change to fusion seals. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

As a GM I hated telling players that they could not make use of something that the scenario writer was obviously intending to provide for the PCs.

Thank you!

What was the change? The page is broken or not updating for me.

Much appreciated changes!

Extended Runtime is still wrong. It says 10 minutes/day, which isn’t a real duration option. Presumably it’s supposed to say 10 minutes/level.

Finally for the weapon fusion!

Just to get ahead of this, this refers to "weapons with the Thrown property" and not "thrown weapons," right? 'Cause "thrown weapons" could very plausibly include grenades (cf. CRB p. 183, "grenades are thrown weapons") and a line grenade is terrifying (and confusing!)
!

"I killed 12 swarm bugs with a grenade. And then it exploded!"

The way the biohack faq is worded makes it sound like the caustolance/ject can't be used to damage when using a biohack.

I suppose new biohackers are going to have to use interstellar species soundhacks and older ones are going to have to move to dart guns?

Hilary Moon Murphy wrote:

I am ecstatic about the change to fusion seals. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

As a GM I hated telling players that they could not make use of something that the scenario writer was obviously intending to provide for the PCs.

Thank you!

What was the change? The page is broken or not updating for me.

Fusion seals now take effect after 10 minutes on a new weapon instead of 24 hours.

So I just redownloaded the Alien Archive and I’m still getting the first printing. How can I get the latest print?

Fusion seals now take effect after 10 minutes on a new weapon instead of 24 hours.

Thats good. Are they upgradable like fusions now?

So I just redownloaded the Alien Archive and I’m still getting the first printing. How can I get the latest print?

I think there’s only the one. It has errata online only.

Arutema wrote:

Fusion seals now take effect after 10 minutes on a new weapon instead of 24 hours.

Thats good. Are they upgradable like fusions now?

No. And fusions upgrade for the difference in full price now, not half.

Are these updates/errata/changes going to be updated in the purchased pdfs eventually ?

Are these updates/errata/changes going to be updated in the purchased pdfs eventually ?

When the paper copy gets updated, so does the PDF. Every time.

Sometimes we do get PDF updates without updates to the physical product.

Just a heads up, in this case we've not yet updated the PDF. This is because there isn't a new printing happening in the immediate future. Instead, we wanted to make sure to get these updates out without needing to tie it in with a new printing or having to spend the time re-opening files and copyfitting in changes.

I understand it's a change in what people are used to, but the team thinks it's important to get these changes out to the community as soon as we could. We'll be looking at updating the PDF files when it's appropriate with these changes, but our scheduling right now makes that really tough, and we decided it better to just get these updates out rather than let them linger.

If the fusion seals aren't upgradable I cant see why someone would buy them. Good as loot but still beyond niche for an adventurer! .

It has been 2,010 days without a simple fix to the broken/incomplete Titan Shield capacity/usage in the CRB that would involve no particular effort or copyfit issues on a reprint.

Titan Shield
Source Starfinder Core Rulebook pg. 205
Item Level 14; Price 75,000
Slots 1; Armor Type Powered; Bulk 2
Capacity 40; Usage 10

I must be missing something - what's broken / incomplete about it? (Unless you're saying "...is that correct?" in which case, ah. Shrug.)

It needs a duration for the usage. It creates an energy shield that provides cover. Given the action cost to activate it and the language about how it handles movement while active, I doubt it's for one single round. I also doubt it lasts permanently until you decide to turn it off. Unfortunately, there's no way to know how this is supposed to work.

Compare to usage/capacity listings for force fields that also provide an ongoing benefit. Or literally every other armor upgrade that provides an ongoing protective benefit that isn't permanent.

Someone created a thread about this a week after the CRB was released. I guess the same issue applies to the Phase Shield. Also discussed here.

Ah, touché. I just automatically parsed it as "usage (per round)" without stopping to think about it.

In all their enthusiasm, Peppermint the Skittermander's updates to our errata didn't properly display! Our awesome technomancer Andrew White has come to the rescue and everything should now be displaying properly, including:

• Page numbers have been added to all entries

• Character Operations Manual: Extend Runtime has been updated to properly reflect that the hack works with spells with a duration of 10/minutes level, not 10/minutes day.

• Tech Revolution: Mystic Smith has been updated to work with the new fusion seal rules. It takes far less time to install fusion seals and they begin functioning after 1 round (or immediately if you spend a Resolve Point).

• Galactic Magic: Fusion Specialist has been updated to work with the new fusion seal rules and functions after 1 round rather than the normal 10 minutes (or immediately if you spend a Resolve Point).

• Solar Strike: The Stellar Fire ability of the Deep Cultures Specialist archetype can now apply the flaming weapon fusion in 1 minute instead of 10 minutes.

It has been 2,010 days without a simple fix to the broken/incomplete Titan Shield capacity/usage in the CRB that would involve no particular effort or copyfit issues on a reprint.

Thanks for pointing this out. We're a shifted team so it was missed in the shuffle. I'll get it added to our future investigations.

One other thing that I think could use a minor edit in the CRB that is fairly important - how/whether the Identify spell interacts with obtaining passwords, which if you do have give a +5 to a hacking attempt.

This spell allows you to attempt to identify the function of a magic item (with Mysticism) or technological device (with Engineering) each round. You gain a +10 insight bonus to skill checks to identify the properties and command words or passwords of items targeted when using this spell. This spell does not allow you to identify artifacts.

A computer is a technological device with a password. Does this spell let me do a boosteed Engineering check to get a password that I can't otherwise get just by studying the item and then have a +5 to my hacking check for having a password? It sure seems to, but that make it pretty much an automatic +5 to all hacking attempts if you have a spellcaster with max engineering ranks and a 1st level spell to burn.

Nomination for both future errata and a development guideline going forward: standardize animal companion DCs.

A new guide to animal companions notes three different DC formulas in use. Linnormlings in Interstellar Species were quickly errata'd to be 10 + half level + charisma mod on their curse, which is pretty normal looking for a Starfinder DC.

But the Supenga Pup has a 10 + level formula, and the Marwaul and Tetlotolan have a formula of 10 + 1.5x level. The Marwaul is particularly egregious given that it has a nauseate effect.