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There is a ton of advice for combat encounters, but what about social encounters? 1: What are your favorite tips, tricks, feats, spells, or other abilities for social encounters? 2: How have the remaster changes affected social encounters? 3: Are there any good options for characters that don't normally have good social skills?
I think the advantages of Discord are it's easier to use on a phone, and that you can get a notice alert when there is a new post. The group that taught me how to play PBP on the forums, had us use Discord mostly just for notices. In the beginning, 95% of our Discord use was just the GM posting "GM post." so we knew there was something new to react to, or the last player to post their turn would let the GM know the PCs were done. I agree Attrition may be inevitable, and there's nothing wrong with people choosing other platforms to play on. But at least from a Starfinder perspective in general the Paizo forums Starfinder General Discussion page is really slow compared to Reddit. On Reddit, there are new players weekly looking for games. Many of them are coming over from 5e and may have not even heard of Play by Post. Many of them are even jumping into Starfinder 1e even knowing SF2e is on the way.
For VTTS and face-to-face In-person games, there are 1000s of live-streamed games on Youtube, but there's nothing promoting or even just showing people playing PBP. There's never going to be a Critical Role of PBP, so this is just me thinking out loud how would you promote PBP?
Starfinder
Outpost VII
Pathfinder 1e
Outpost VII
So looks like between the two events we're losing players to Discord. Not sure if that's old players changing to Discord or if Discord is just better at attracting new players. I use Discord for lots of shot or live communication but it just seems like it would be hard to follow a PbP game on it. Am I missing something about Discord?
Besides the edition changes coming, something I wonder about is the overall growth of Play by Post in general. Editions can split a community, but even with just the current edition of Starfinder the PbP community is already split up between the Paizo forums and several Discord channels. The rise of live-play VTTs has taken away players too. When the Online Campaigns section of the Paizo forums was named, most players would have likely assumed it meant Play by Post games. Today players coming to the forums for the first time would likely think it means VTT games There's no Critical Role for Play by Post to draw in new players. I started playing play by post a little over 18 months ago and love it. Before I tried Play by Post I had zero interest in it, and I also wasn't interested in organized play either, which I also now really like. What changed my mind was someone reading one of my comments in the general section of the Starfinder section of the Paizo forums that I couldn't find a local game, so they invited me to one of their PbP games. That's the short version, but my point is I think to grow the overall Play by Post community we need to reach out more outside of the Online Campaigns section of the Paizo forums, and even outside of the Paizo forums, the Starfinder subreddit is much more active than the Paizo forums general Starfinder section, I see new players looking for game there all the time. Anyway, just my personal experience with getting into PbP and some random thoughts and observations. I have more thoughts on this but out of time for now.
What would be great for keeping old editions going for organized play is a set of rules for 3rd party creators to make scenarios to sell on Starfinder Infinite or Infinite Masters.
Would only work with repeatable that have optional encounters in the same area, Acts of Association is a good example. For Acts of Association you normally only run 4 of the 6 possible encounters. Because all the encounters take place on Adslom Station it's easy to run them all if you want a longer adventure. That's fine to do for a home game but not if you are reporting it as a SFS game. My idea is if you had the option to run all the encounters maybe it could count as having played 1.5 scenarios. Down sides is it ruins it from being repeatable for the players, but still could be a fun option to have for the right table that has more time available. This might work best for play-by-post where a 4-hour time slot is not an issue. Key word here is option.
I'm starting to discover some real science behind The Gap It turns out that both astronomy and quantum field theory have mass gap problems. Mass gap in quantum field theory.
‘mass gap’ between neutron stars and black holes .
So what is Starfinders mass gap problem? The hardcover book The Gap has 160 pages but the PDF only has 130 pages. So that's 30 missing pages. The problem is that even after three days of going over both the book and the PDF I can not determine what 30 pages are missing.
Oh, I disagree. I personally am desperately hoping for a musical instrument with the Grazing trait to match the Moowhip. Why, I'm positively feverish for it. Why am I imagining Chezze Whiz as a new top-selling cosplay item? Turns out the musical instrument weapons I was thinking of already have the Professional property. But maybe the two could be combined by making a bayonet version of the Moonwhip so you can attach it to other things. Now I'm imagining cans of Chezze Whiz taped to a squirt gun, and in the background is a Vesk drill sergeant yelling "Spray cheez then rinse."
You are a champion of the people. Thank you. I am just someone with too much free time that thinks the PF2e begginers box is a great product. Besides making a great begginers box packed full of everything you need, Paizo deserves the credit for all the support they did around the Begginers Box. Besides all the free content there's also the published adventures centered or starting in Otari which allows you to seamlessly go from the starter adventure in the box to the greater world of Pathfinder. Pathfinder Adventure: Troubles in Otari. Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Troubles in Otari.
I'm still recruiting for that one! So far, there hasn't been much interest, possibly because it's quite an older game that a lot of people have already played. I can try to find other solutions there - do you play on discord at all? I use Discord a bit for other things, but find it completely disoriented for long things like a PBP although I've never actually played a PBP on Discord so I may be wrong. Willing to try just to find out but not my first choice, but willing to try if needed. The character I'm hoping to play for this is a Shobhad Sepulchral Evolutionist X-gladiator turned X.T.E.A.M wrestler social media personality that joined the Starfinder Socity to get a chance to travel to find new fans. His long-term goal is to evolve into an undead media star to be able to compete against Zo! because people who don't die get more views over time. Thought this scenario would be a fun fit for GRIM*! But I did read it has a lot of skill changes he's very limited in skills but he does have a basic tech support hireling to help out.
Maybe I've been spending too much time lately reading the new book The Gap... Now that you have listed the weapons I remember some of the weapons, but forgot about the trait. I need to check how Starbuildere and Hephaistos handle these weapons. None of my characters with the maintenance worker skill use advanced weapons so I think I missed the crisis wrench because I'm filtering my weapon choice to ones I'm proficient in, I'm not sure the character builders know that I could use the crisis wrench because of my skill ranks. So it looks like the spoiler of the professional weapon property is to show the changes to the property. New version from the blog:
Starfinder 1e version:
Searching the Archive of Nethys for professional, I do not see a professional trait in PF2e There is the Fishing Tackle (Professional) but it's not usable as a weapon and there are two Professional feats but they deal with downtime income.
On the most recent Paizo Live, it was spoiled that one of the new weapon traits from one of the April Fools jokes is actually real. My guess is that it's the Professional trait. From the Moonwhip in the April Fools blog.
Besides the obvious ones like mechanics being able to arm themselves with a tactical wrench, plasma bolt cutters, arc welding pistol, I'm hoping musical instruments/weapons can count as a tool for this new trait to be able to use it with performance skills. Very excited about this new trait if it's real. Curious how many skills could end up with a Professional: weapon trait.
I also think it's Professional and very excited at the possibilities that brings. I'm hoping a musical instrument counts as a tool for this, as there are already several musical weapons in SF1e.
Although I think the PF2e Begginers Box is the best Begginers Box I've seen, my favorite thing about the PF2e beginners box is not in the box, it's all the extra free content Paizo posted to this blog. With so many new players who may have missed those posts from years ago, and this event likely attracting more, I thought I'd link to them all. (I think this is the complete list let me know if I missed something.) The Waters of Stone Ring Pond. Downtime Activities at the Dawnflower Library. Pathfinder Encounter: We Be Zombies!. GM's Toolbox: Lost In The Warrens. Pathfinder Tales: The Shroud of Four Silences. Pathfinder Encounter: Heaving Kobolds. Iconic Encounter: Peril & Portals. GM's Toolkit: Secret Keeper's Mask.
I resigned up for Pact World Warriors after figuring out my character issues, just wanted to see if you were still looking to recruit from that one. My character I signed up with is almost tailed made for that adventure so willing to wait as long as it takes.
For me, Aid should always be worse than Demoralize as Demoralize asks for some investment and has limitations (the Mental Trait and the fact that it doesn't stack with most debuffs). Once you get to +3 and even +4, Aid becomes largely equivalent to Demoralize (depending especially on initiative order). So I don't see the point in making it that easy to use.Personally, I enjoy incentivizing teamwork and variety in tactics in the party, and I'm happy to facilitate Aid checks that others might not in pursuit of that goal - it's fun when the magus breaks from their normal action routine to prepare an Aid at a distance with Crafting to describe a vulnerability in the construct they're fighting. The tactical variety is an important part of it - I trust my players, and we have an understanding that they're not going to be able to use the same skill to assist every round and build it into their baseline tactics without an ability that facilitates it. One for All is still useful for allowing it to be Diplomacy, no matter what, and for the ability to make it a baked-in part of your tactics - but if in the middle of a combat, someone spontaneously wants to use their Forest Lore check as a one-off thing to point out a terrain feature that would give an advantage then it's flavourful and teamwork-building, so I'm all in! :) Must be a Starfinder habit, but before this conversation I hadn't even thought of using aid in combat in a PF2e game, in Starfinder it's only used for skill checks. I do really like the idea of coming up with creative ideas of how to use skills to aid combat.
Maybe my least crazy theory why the book is 160 pages. The number 160 appears in Starfinder Society Scenario 1-25 The Beacon Code Dilemma in reference to...
Adventure Background: In 160 ag, the Starfinder Society Forum elected Lanrah to the
position of First Seeker. Lanrah made it her (and thus the Society’s) mission to solve the Gap. The results of this unachievable mission were disastrous for the Society...
I'm trying to figure out the word count for this book. If The average page is around 500 words, but a picture is worth 1000 words and at first look, this book appears to be all pictures even if they are all white. So we might be getting twice as much information as a normal 160 page book. The other possibility is since we really don't know what The Gap is, the gap could be referring to the leading or kerning in the layout. In either case, if centered at the middle of the book 160 pages of leading or kerning means the visible text starts and ends just outside the pages of the book. In other words, we are only seeing the gap. This is similar to why we can't see ultraviolet and infrared light. I suspect that with special glasses that can see beyond the pages, and we will finally be able to know the truth about The Gap.
I hope it's for tech rules. IIRC we're not getting ships as a subsystem in the initial rulebook, are we? I have heard others on reddit say ships might not be in the initial rulebook too, but have yet to see anyone able to link to a reliable source for that. This would be a good question to ask at the AMA Join us April 3rd to ask your questions for the Starfinder2e Development team joins us for an AMA .
All the character options in this book stack, and what is amazing is that this doesn't cause any balance problems for SF2e or PF2e for that matter they balance equally well with any game system. It's also fully backward compatible with SF1e! I love the attention to deal tail to the Starfinder lore this is obviously the work of a team that really understands Starfinder! The artistic use of white spaces is one of the best examples of great layout in any book ever made! This is the perfect book to fill the Gap between my Starfinder and Pathfinder books on my bookshelf.
PDF version should be ready! I just checked the PDF is only 130 pages that ruins my conspiracy theory that 160 is key to The Gap, it still might be important but now we have to consider the meaning of 160, 130, and the gap between them 30 That's 3 variables so could be a sign that this is linked to Triune...
And is this playable in organized play?This book has been sanctioned for Starfinder Society Organized Play! I love that all the character options in this book stack
Season 1 of The 100 that's not a space station you want to be living on.
Saw this great quote in the comment section of this Youtube video
Playing the game is the practice, and the theory is something optional usually best done before or after the game.
Four NASA astronauts playing a zero-g encounter in Starfinder will likely play it very differently from a group that has never been in zero-g before. Not because the astronauts will take time to do the math right but because they know what living and moving in zero-g is really like, so will think of solutions the rest of us wouldn't I couldn't tell you the math behind it but I know from experience that putting the right mix of vinegar and baking soda in a 2 letter bottle will land it in my neighbor's backyard two houses over. If I can find a creative way to use that knowledge to overcome a challenge in the game I will. How I role-play a Contemplative using that knowledge will look very different than playing a Space Goblin using it.
Any way you slice it, that is indeed an important question! Another important question, what will happen to game balance if 1st level characters get access to bread?
Some repeatables have a set number of encounters with verables for each encounter. Some have multiple encounters and you only play some of the encounters each time. What if repeatable with multiple encounters had the option to play all the encounters as a longer adventure? This could be a fun option for home groups running PFS or for a PFS group that has consisint group players to continue on a different day or have days they can play for longer. Not sure it could be applied to past scenarios but something to consider for future ones.
on a station, even sewage is a resource. As much as I like the Catania feel of Starfinder I think it's ok if we skip a playable species that eats sewage, at least for social encounters, especially ones involving eating. I don't have the dietary habits of all the playable species memorized so I wouldn't be surprised if some pointed out we already have one.
Starfinder has rules for moving in zero-g as well as a condition (Off-Kilter) for being disoriented in zero-g "Off-Kilter You are disoriented and floating in zero gravity. You can’t take move actions to move your speed, crawl, or take a guarded step. You are flat-footed and take a –2 penalty to attack rolls. You must use a method of propulsion to right yourself or grab a stabilizing object such as a wall or ladder (usually as a move action) in order to end this condition. See Zero Gravity on page 402 for more information." So the kineticist idea should work. The big question would be at what speed would releasing air from the cylinder be at, because you are going to keep moving in that direction until you hit something, take another action to change your direction. I think it would depend on how much air pressure a kineticist can put into the cylinder. My guess is low pressure would be 5' per round, normal pressure 30' per pound, and high pressure 60' per round to keep in the in-game balance range. theoretically, if the air pressure was high enough it could be MUCH
Starfinder isn't exactly hard sci-fi but it does acknowledge a self-awareness of science in the setting, it just doesn't need to be 100% accurate, and bending, breaking, or outright throwing out the laws of physics is fine in places, at least that's my view on how science fits in Starfinder.
At 1st level anyone can use the ready action to save 1 action to strike at Bob if Bob moves too close, but to do so you would have to beat Bob's initiative. A fighter at 1st level could ready an action and use reactive strike to strike at Bob 1 or 2 times, depending on initiative.At 6th level several classes also gain access to reactive strike. At 10th level, Fighters can gain access to a second reactive strike. Might not be dirty harry level AOO But that could help hold a defensive line. I don't claim to play a rules lawer on TV so maybe some of the PF2e players might know of other ways to get more reactive strikes.
I Thinking about how aid works from the perspective of Starfinder players getting ready for SF2e. In Stafinder aid another can stack and is only for skill checks. There are ways to aid in combat but they are defined in feats usually in SF. I do like the teamwork that happens when everyone aids one person, but thinking about it most of the time when that happens in SF it's for a skill check with a crazy high DC that was designed that way for the encounter. In PF2e if you need everyone to do skill checks together the victory point system could be used to get that teamwork feeling.
To date I've been in five different campaigns, each starting at level 1, and medicine's always worked well for us.I see no mechanism for you getting passed a roughly 50% fail rate. At 1st level, someone trained in medicine with a +2 wisdom could take 10 If a situation prevents taking 10 the assurance feat will do the same.
I would be fine with a scaling DC, but I much prefer this lower DC than the DC 20 it was before. At low levels, it was really disheartening to have to beat a higher DC than the task itself just to help someone try to succeed. (Note that I mainly play PFS, so the GM using a lower DC for the aid isn't an option.) In a game that is built so much around encouraging teamwork, starting the Aid DC at 20 was really counter productive in teaching new players to cooperate. I agree it does feel off when the DC to aid is higher than the actual check. I think higher a DC makes sense if you are using an untrained skill to aid someone.
I would be fine with a scaling DC, but I much prefer this lower DC than the DC 20 it was before. At low levels, it was really disheartening to have to beat a higher DC than the task itself just to help someone try to succeed. (Note that I mainly play PFS, so the GM using a lower DC for the aid isn't an option.) In a game that is built so much around encouraging teamwork, starting the Aid DC at 20 was really counter productive in teaching new players to cooperate. I so far have only played PFS and SFs, so I get the GM has their hands tied part. Almost every time I see advice given to new players teamwork comes up somewhere, but now I'm starting to think it might be better to think of it in terms of working in pairs. It might be easier for new players to be paired up with an experienced player and the two of them work together to set up a flank or something similar.
I mean, that's the point people upthread are making, isn't it? In order to heal you need one skill, Medicine.g. At least in PFS organized play, everyone has the option of getting a free healing potion at the start of each scenario. Without magic healing, the old-school way would have been to go back to town and rest for a week or two, that's still an option if time is not an issue. I find playing a healer in Starfinder more boring than in PF2e. I have a lot of fun playing my Mystic combat medic, but it's not from using my healing abilities. Even with the Medic archetype you still have to wait until someone has at least 1 point of HP damage, and often by then the fight is almost over. I do like Starfinder stanima rules if I'm playing a non-healer. I've been asking around about the changes to low-level play in the PF2e remaster and what I'm seeing looks encouraging. It looks like there are several changes making low-level combat more balanced. Much of that is linked to in my previous post in this thread. It might only be a few small changes but small changes mean fewer crits, which is why low-level play can be so deadly in PF2e. I have also found out that the first adventures and scenarios using the remaster rules haven't come out yet, so most people don't actually have experience playing with the remaster rules and balancing that SF2e will be based on. It sounds like the first AP using the remaster comes out at the end of April and scenarios using the remaster will start with season 6. Just found out the PF2e begginers box got updated to the remaster on March 4th if you have that already you can download the updated PDF
Recnetly in a Starfinder game, we had a very deadly chase using the chase rules. Failing a skill check and falling behind in the chase was a minimum of more than 50% of all but one of the PCs HP so we had to use a lot of Aid rolls to help each other out. The last person to make it to safety only made it with the aid rolls from the entire party added to the last roll. Something you can't do in PF2e because aid is a circumstance bonus so won't stack. Having everyone aid the last player really felt like teamwork, which is something PF2e encourages. I find the way bonuses can't stack with the same type is good for game balance, but it can limit teamwork to only one person being able to use aid action. In some situations what if there was a team trait that could be added to a skill check encounter that would allow stacking Aid checks for that specific check? This would allow the entire party to work together to overcome a skill challenge.
Has low-level play benefited from the remaster? If so how and do you think it's enough of a change for someone that's tried PF2e before and didn't like low-level play to try again?One big change is also that Aid's DC was reduced from 20 to 15, so everyone has a 25% greater chance of aiding their friends with checks and attacks. I had forgotten how different aid works between Starfinder and PF2e In Starfinder it's only DC10 to give +2 aid and it stacks, but it's limited to only skill checks. But with aid in PF2e being able to be used in combat I can see why it's got a higher DC and doesn't stack with other aid.
Yeah. I think my overall take is that in terms of people per unit volume, it's low compared to many real-life cities. Which is fine. Maybe it was planned for up to 50 million, but never reached that. Or used to have that before something happened. The problem with comparing sci-fi space stations to real-life cities is that current real cities are not built very well for sustainability. Also in a setting like Starfinder where getting to other star systems and planets is relatively accessible populations can more easily spread out when they get overpopulated, currently on earth we are stuck here.
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