Butch A.'s page

Is there a reason why there's no map for this encounter?

I can see the point that there might not be a fight, and the fight might happen in the cafe, or outside it, or nearby, but the same reasoning applies to the Fusion Queen encounter, too.

Has anyone created a map for it, or is there a good map to use in one of the SFS adventures (we are playing the AP, but I'm not averse to buying one to pillage)?

So, it seems like there is no good way to mechanically represent a soldier, for example, that is resistant to being intimidated (without making a LOT of sacrifices in design and advancement)

The rulebook says that NPCs with abilities similar to a PC of a particular level have a CR equal to that level. Presumably, that means that a PC has a CR equivalent to his level.

Intimidation has a DC of 10+Intimidation bonus, or 15+(1.5 x CR). That means that at first level, your Intimidation bonus needs to be +7 to be better than general baseline resistance to Intimidation.

That's easy at first level, with Skill Focus (or a good Charisma mod), but it rapidly becomes implausible for higher levels, unless you have a really high Charisma (which is generally unlikely for Soldiers). It seems really weird that your mid-to-high level Soldier CAN'T be any more resistant to Demoralize attempts than anyone else in the party unless he maximizes Charisma at the expense of Dexterity or Strength, even if he boosts Intimidation at every opportunity.

By level 12, even if you take 12 ranks of Intimidation, you need a +9 from Skill Focus, Charisma, or other sources, just to beat the basic resistance to intimidation that every other character has at that level. It doesn't seem like that's a good option for anyone but Operatives and Envoys (and perhaps Solarions).

It seems really weird that Soldiers aren't capable of being good at resisting this (without, for example, boosting Charisma at every opportunity, which would be kind of weird for a soldier).

My vesk soldier wants to speak the language of his 'greatest foe', and to him, the Swarm, which forced the Veskarium into a treaty, is that foe. But what language do they speak?

It would be nice if Shirren and Swarm both spoke the same language, as he'd have a relatively common third language, but given that the Shirren broke from the swarm generations ago, that seems to be an unreliable bet.

Anyone have information from Alien Archive or some other official source I haven't seen?

Does anyone (maybe some helpful developer) know if any particular 'real world' cultures were particularly influential in the creation of the Vesk? We have some sample names, and a little bit about their culture, but not much else.

I'm trying to work on my character's personality, speech patterns, and backstory, and I really don't want to discover later that the name I pick out from the pregenerated list is typically female (or maybe I could be the Vesk Leslie Nielsen), or that some cornerstone of my PC's personality is actually really uncommon and weird among Vesk. Plus, I'd like to search around for more name inspiration.

Of course, they are a species that inhabits several WORLDS, so theoretically their culture should be quite a bit more diverse than Earth culture, but hey, they give SOME guidelines about Vesk culture and naming, so why not look for a little more?

So, I love the Vesk. Loooooove them. However, there's some stuff I really, really want to know. It doesn't even matter to me what the answer is, but I'm one of those players who really develops a LOT of backstory, so it really matters to me that whatever the answers are is incorporated into my backstory.

Are Vesk carnivorous or omnivorous?

Do they lay eggs, or bear live young?

Do their females enter a breeding period, or are they always 'ready to go' like humans?

Do they shed their skin when they grow?

I'd LOVE for these things to be different from humans, just so they are different, but I'd be happy with the race either way. I just want to work out a back story that isn't contradicted later by other materials.

(I could easily see a very lawful society like the Veskarium collecting eggs and incubating them in hatcheries, so that young vesk all get uniform care and upbringing. I could see Vesk having specific breeding cycles and finding spontaneous sexual relations roughly as rude as we view sex in public. I could see a Vesk begging off a date with "I've just started shedding" as a bogus excuse. It doesn't matter whether they are carnivores or omnivores, but it will really matter when we are roleplaying in social scenes!)

None of these things are terribly important one way or the other, but they would really help me (and, I am sure, others) fill out my character as a 'real' person.

So, despite all the general hubbub about batteries and their cost, I think there are only a few really specific problems with them in the equipment so far. Quick rules recap:

A weapon's capacity measures what size battery it uses (p168).

Items with a specified usage use a battery that comes fully charged when purchased. (p218)

To recharge the full capacity of a spent battery costs half the price of that battery. (p234)

Batteries can be recharged or they can be replaced. (p218)

The pulsecaster Rifle (100 credits) has a capacity of 40 charges. It must contain a high capacity battery (which contains 40 charges) and costs 330 credits. This means that it costs 165 credits to recharge the battery of a weapon which cost 100 credits.

A personal comms unit costs 7 credits and has 80 charges. That means it must come with a fully charged super-capacity battery, which costs 390 credits. You can sell the battery for 10% of the price and make 32 credits. It costs 195 credits to fully charge a 7 credit comms unit.

Fire extinguishers have a specified usage, which (by the rules listed) mean that they must use batteries, but their own rules also specify that they can be recharged for 10% of cost. Their battery must be a standard battery (which has 20 charges), and can be removed (again, according to the rules), so you can recharge your fire extinguisher for 1.5 credits, remove the fully charged battery, and use it in your gun or other item, rather than paying 30 credits to charge it.

Beacons, flashlights, lanterns, spotlights, laser microphones, and motion detectors come with 10 charge batteries. Signal jammers come with 12 charge batteries. Detonators come with 5 charge batteries. There are no batteries with the listed number of charges, so it is not possible to buy a charged battery for these items, nor can you figure out a cost to recharge them.

I have some suggested solutions for these items:

The pulsecaster rifle simply has the wrong cost. It costs less than a pulsecaster pistol, despite having a longer range and doing more damage. If the pulsecaster rifle cost as much (or more) than the pulsecaster pistol, it would not be cheaper to buy a new one than recharge it.

Fire extinguishers need to be called out specifically as not having batteries. That would solve all problems with them (other than how to bill the 1.5 credit price to recharge them).

There should be another battery in the equipment list: the low-watt battery. This battery has 10 charges and CAN ONLY be used to power items with a usage duration of minutes or more and a Bulk of 1 or less. The battery is not capable of producing an intense amount of energy in a short period of time (like a round) and thus cannot be used to power weapons and the like, nor can it power large objects like powered armor. This battery costs 1 credit, and has no cost (but normal time) to recharge. I would note such charges as (X)w charges, i.e. 10w for a fully charged low-watt battery.

Then you would need to alter some equipment for that battery. The beacon, flashlight, lantern, spotlight, laser microphone, and motion detector would all work normally. You would need to change the signal jammer to have 10 charges of the same duration. The personal comms unit would need to have 10 charges of 12 hours each). Thus, instead of running for 80 hours (3-⅓ days) on one battery it would run for 5 days.

The detonator could either be changed to have a capacity of 10w, and use the new battery, or have 20 charges.

I think this would be a relatively simple and easy change to the equipment that would eliminate many of the absurdities of battery/charging costs for low level items.

Beyond that, there is the mystery of charging costs: It costs ½ the price of a battery to recharge at a public charging station (and 1 round per charge). It costs less (or nothing) to recharge from the generator that may be on larger ships (but takes 1 round per charge). What is the time and cost to charge a battery at a private charging station? How much does it cost a person to charge their own batteries in their own home? Does someone have to leave their home and go to a public charging station just to charge their personal comms unit (especially since it is cheaper to buy 28 more units than recharge the one you have)? But that's for another FAQ.