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From the text of Stand Still, I would have said that Stand Still relies on one of the trigger conditions from Attack of Opportunity. Stand Strong, however, refers to the attack made in Stand Still as an AoO, and the distinction is important if someone has an opportunistic fusion that would alter the accuracy of the stand still attack.

Stand Still (Combat)

Source Starfinder Core Rulebook pg. 162
You can stop foes that try to move past you.

Benefit: When a foe provokes an attack of opportunity by leaving a square you threaten, you can attempt a melee attack as a reaction against that foe’s Kinetic Armor Class + 8. If you’re successful, the enemy cannot take any further movement for the rest of its turn. The enemy can still take the rest of its actions, but cannot leave that square.

Stand Strong (Combat)

Source Starfinder #38: Crash and Burn pg. 52
When you plant yourself in place, you’re difficult to move past.

Prerequisites: Stand Still

Benefit: When you fight defensively, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to the attack of opportunity made to stop enemies from moving past you with Stand Still, and the DC of the Acrobatics check to move through a square you threaten or your space increases by 2 until the beginning of your next turn.

Teamwork Benefit: If you’re adjacent to an ally who also has this feat when you fight defensively, your bonus increases to +4, and the DC to move through your space or a square you threaten increases by 4 instead of 2.

When I read the influence subsystem in the GMG, it was immediately familiar to me as being similar to how some PFS 1E social scenarios were structured. I thought the codification was very convenient as it would provide a common expectation of the subsystem used for what had been a lot of great 1E experiences for me.

The way that I keep seeing this system used in 2E seems odd, though. In previous experiences with this subsystem, there were often large social encounters, with multiple important people present, which went a long way in making discovery of how different people could be influenced important, as it gave characters with different skills the chance to find people they might have more common ground with. In 2E, influence encounters seem to keep being used with an entire party trying to influence a single person over multiple rounds, and the scenarios can start feeling bogged down as players go "what else can I say to this person before rolling some dice that wasn't in our last 4 rounds of conversation?"

Am I alone in this, or does the "X rounds of everyone trying to influence a single NPC" paradigm seem to other people like the system isn't being used in the way that makes it easiest to keep everyone engaged?

The Brooch of shielding reads as follows:

Brooch of Shielding

Source Starfinder Armory pg. 110
Level 2; Price 1,000; Bulk —
Description
A piece of metal jewelry originally used to fasten a cloak, a brooch of shielding has a brilliantly colored jewel mounted in its center. The brooch counts as a worn magic item unless you install it in armor, taking up one upgrade slot. While worn, the brooch absorbs incoming force damage, which causes the jewel’s color to fade. Once the brooch absorbs 55 force damage, the colorless jewel crumbles to dust and the brooch becomes nonmagical.

The 3rd printing CRB errata basically went through and removed all instances of Force damage being a thing that exists. So, what does the brooch of shielding do now? Does it:

A. Block things the used to be force damage, if you have an old book to know what they are.

B. Block damage from any source with a force property or descriptor, including things that were never Force damage.

C. Do nothing.

The Shortcut Through The Wastes Exploration activity can be attempted only once per segment of the journey. The exploration points gained affect the group's movement rate.

The way the activity and exploration points are presented don't seem to work well together, though.

Only a single shortcut check can be made for each segment of the journey, with a best result of 2 exploration points gained. The effects of the exploration points are counted up to an effect for 5+ Exploration Points. Presumably, this means that the exploration points are intended to be cumulative from the Shortcut checks for all 4 segments of travel.

However, this either means that the party ends up continually accelerating, so that it is never possible for a party to be making best time at the beginning of the trip, and very likely that they'll be moving at high speed at the end (which is odd) or that the effects of the final total should be applied to the travel time for the full trip (which would mean you could never accurately say how much time has passed to get to a certain point.) It's seems clear enough from the note about checking the exploration point totals in Torch, to let the PCs know if they're on schedule, that the cumulative exploration point total applying to the whole trip is the correct reading, but does anyone have a good solution for not being able to give an accurate answer to perfectly reasonable questions like "how many miles have we traveled and what day is it?"

Additionally, none of the locations of things like the snipers and acid spitting "bushes" in encounter B are actually marked on any of the maps.

The 4th level trade in ability for the witch warped reads " You don’t gain another daily use of the infinite worlds class feature, nor do you gain its additional 4th-level effect."

This is obviously invalid as it refers to concepts that only existed in the Playtest version of the Witchwarper.

What is the correct trade for a witchwarper taking a 4th level archetype ability?

Size

A suit of powered armor has the listed size, so you may take up more space when you’re wearing it. Some suits of powered armor list a reach in parentheses after size. Powered armor with a reach greater than 5 feet allows you to attack creatures within that range in melee even if they aren’t adjacent to you. Add the reach of the powered armor to the reach of any weapons you wield using the powered armor.

So, if Bob the Shobhad, a large sized character, decides he wants to purchase a Battle Harness, a suit of Powered Armor with size Medium, what happens?

A. Bob buys a Battle Harness that is size Large, to fit himself.

B. Bob buys a Battle Harness, forces himself inside, and becomes medium.

C. Bob cannot buy a Battle Harness, because they are only available in medium.

D. Something else.

After contemplating his purchase, Bob decides the Battle Harness is not intimidating enough. He decides instead to purchase a Brawler Frame (normally large). What happens?

A. Bob buys a Brawler Frame, and because he is Large, it must be Huge.

B. Bob buys a Large Brawler Frame and fits snugly inside.

C. Bob also cannot buy a Brawler Frame, because its cockpit is made for small or medium creatures.

D. Something else.

There are a lot if things that interact directly with Trick Attack, and I wonder if any of them are intended to work with Stunt and Strike. As far as I can tell, the RAW answer is "no" across the board, but I'd like to know if I'm missing something. The rules that cone immediately to mind are:

1: Operative specialization bonuses, usually of the form "You can use X to trick attack, and gain a +4 bonus to the trick roll". (This one seems especially odd to not apply to Stunts, as the DC is identical to trick attack, and assumed these bonuses for non DEX skills from day one).

2: The exploit Alien Archive, which grants a bonus to trick rolls against targets that you have identified.

3: The Star Knight challenge feature, which allows the challenge full action to be combined with trick attack

4. The Spring Attack and Shot On The Run feats, which are allowed to affect trick attack, as well as being a standalone full action.

SLICE REALITY

Starfinder Character Operations Manual p.141

Level Witchwarper 2
School evocation
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Targets 1 creature + 1 creature/3 levels
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw Fortitude half; Spell Resistance yes

You expose targets to churning entropy which turns parts of their body sickly and black. Each target takes 2d6 damage. A successful Fortitude save halves this damage.
You can focus on only one target rather than multiple. If you target only a single creature with this spell, the target is also staggered for a number of rounds equal to your caster level

Is it correct that a successful save does not affect the stagger inflicted when Slice Reality targets a single creature?

The polar vortex spell deals 9d6 damage in a 20 ft cylinder, before having longer term area control effects. The spell description shows that it is a 2nd level witchwarper and mystic spell.

I assume that the spell list summary page, which shows Polar Vortex as a 3rd level spell on both lists is correct, and the spell description is an error, but I am hoping this can be confirmed.

There have been a few open questions about fusions placed on ammunition for some time, and I hope that some of you will click the FAQ button.

The relevant rules text that indicates fusions can be placed on ammunition is as follows:

You can install a fusion into a grenade, a piece of ammunition, or another consumable item; such a fusion costs half the normal price of a weapon fusion for a weapon of the same level.

The list of debated points, as completely as I can list it, is:

1. Can fusions be placed on batteries, which are ammunition, but are not consumable in the manner of other ammunition?

1A. If fusions can be placed on batteries, does the magic reman active when the battery is recharged, or is the fusion associated with the consumable charges, rather than the rechargeable battery?

2. When a fusion is purchased for ammunition, is it applied to a single round, or to one standard purchase qty for that ammunition type? If the fusion is only applied to a single round, how does this interact with weapons that use multiple rounds per attack?

3. Some fusions (such as Entangling) have a 1/day effect. When these fusions are used on ammunition, how does the use limit function? 1/round/day? 1/weapon/day? 1/character/day?

I believe this is the oldest thread on the issue.

COM added the alternate feature Operative's Arsenal.

At 8th level, choose one of the following weapon types: advanced melee weapons, longarms, heavy weapons, or any one special weapon of your choice. You gain proficiency with the chosen weapon type (or weapon, if you chose a special weapon). In addition, you can use trick attack with weapons of the chosen type. You do not add trick attack damage to such attacks, but the target is still flat-footed and you can use debilitating trick. At 13th level, you can choose a second type of weapon from the list.This replaces triple attack and quad attack.

Now, most weapons with AoE effects are unwieldy, and cannot be used to trick attack. (I am assuming that Operative's Arsenal is never going to receive an errata like Debilitating Sniper, as there is none need for one).

However, there are exceptions, as wieldy blast weapons exist, as do wieldy bows and grenade launchers.

So, how do you interpret the interaction if trick attack with the Blast and Explode properties?

BLAST
For blast, I believe the best option is to count as single target as the target of the trick attack, and have others affected normally. I don't see a lot of gray area on this one, but I figure it's worth including.

EXPLODE
Here is where I expect to see multiple interpretations, including:

A (the one plausible interpretation). Your target is a grid intersection, so trick attack cannot be declared on a creature I'm the area.

B (the other plaudible interpretation). You attempt to trick and debilitated one creature in the intended area of the explosion.

C (the wrong one). I also expect someone will argue they should be able to trick all creatures in the affected area. I would say this is definitely wrong.

Any thoughts?

Additional note: I do not believe any wieldy line weapons exist, but they should works the same way as blast.

Since the release of the CRB, we've seen a lot of feats added, especially with COM. Unfortunately, Paizo has never updated the Drone Feats list with any of them.

So what I'm wondering is, if you run a Starfinder game, what non-core feats do you allow for drones, if any?

Knight shields and tactical shields both state that you can align the shield against an opponent to gain an increased bonus to AC against that target until the start of you next turn.

Riot shields state that you can align the shield against a target as a move actiom, to activate special shield mods. At higher levels of riot shield, you also gain increased AC bonus against that target.

The rules on aligning a riot shield do not include any duration for the effects.

Am I correct that this an error, or are riot shields actually intended to remain aligned without further move actions?

In the tier 3-4, Meleeka has +1 Striking Handwraps of Mighty Blows, but appears to have no extra damage die on any of her unarmed strikes.

Will PDFS be unlocked for subscription products that released on August 28, that have not yet shipped?

A few things in this scenario seem like they are worth asking about, here.

If I am reading correctly, it seems like the nanite spray abilities have no attack roll, and no save that affects the actual damage. Am I misreading something, or is this intended? I want to double check, since it seems fairly nasty in a low tier adventure where the players will never be able to take a 10 minute rest without being interrupted due to the golem arriving when they've been in one place for 5 minutes.

An operative with a projectile pistol full of explosive rounds tries to trick attack a swarm. The explosive rounds make the weapon effective against swarm defenses, but what about the trick? Does it fail because it is a single target effect, resulting in a standard attack, or can the extra damage and debillitation be brought to bear?

SWARM DEFENSES (EX)
Swarms take damage from weapons differently depending on how the weapon targets them.A swarm is immune to attacks and effects that targets a single creature (including single-target spells), with the exception of mind-affecting effects if the swarm has an Intelligence score and an ability similar to the formian’s hive mind (see page 50).A swarm takes half again as much damage (+50%) from effects that affect all targets in an area, such as grenades, blast and explode weapons, and many evocation spells.A swarm takes normal damage from an attack or effect that affects multiple targets (including lines and fully automatic mode attacks). For the purpose of automatic fire, the swarm counts as five targets. For example, if an automatic attack is made using 12 rounds of ammunition, it can attack a maximum of six targets, so it can damage a swarm normally. However, if two other targets are closer to the attacker than the swarm, they must be attacked first, leaving only four attacks to target the swarm, so it takes no damage.Format: Defensive Abilities swarm defenses.

From CRB page 169:

TARGETING ARMOR CLASS
Whether you compare an attack roll to the target’s Energy Armor Class (EAC) or Kinetic Armor Class (KAC) depends on the type of damage the weapon deals. In rare cases, a weapon’s damage type can be magically altered with weapon fusions (see page 191), but this never changes whether a weapon targets EAC or KAC.If the weapon deals only energy damage, the attack targets EAC. Energy damage generally includes acid, cold, electricity, fire, and sonic damage, though it also potentially includes magical or exotic untyped energies.If the weapon deals only kinetic damage, or if it deals both energy and kinetic damage, the attack targets KAC. Kinetic damage generally comes from attacks that deal bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage, as well as damage from crushing, constriction, or the impact from falling.For more about EAC and KAC, see Armor Class on page 240

But the nyfiber net has no damage and only entangles. So how do you know if it hits? Does it target KAC, because it is a physical net? EAC, because it seems to take the role that touch AC had in Pathfinder? Something else in an obscure sidebar that I've missed?

The FAQ entry on the nets only clarifies that they entangle and deal no damage.

What is the correct way of handling Clever Feint and reactions?

Clever Feint (Ex)
As a standard action, you can fake out an enemy within 60 feet, making that enemy open to your attacks. Attempt a Bluff check with the same DC as a check to feint against that enemy (though this isn’t a standard check to feint, so Improved Feint and Greater Feint don’t apply). Even if you fail, that enemy is flat-footed against your attacks (see page 276) until the end of your next turn. If you succeed, the enemy is also flat-footed against your allies’ attacks until the end of your next turn. You can’t use clever feint against a creature that lacks an Intelligence score.At 6th level, you can spend 1 Resolve Point to treat a failed Bluff check for clever feint as if it were a success.

Flat-Footed
At the start of a combat, if you are surprised, you are flat-footed until you become aware of combat and have had a chance to act. Many other effects can cause you to become flat-footed. You take a –2 penalty to your AC and cannot take reactions while flat-footed.

Now, I have been reading "flat-footed against your attacks" as a limited form of the flat-footed condition, that is only applied while resolving your attack. Thus would mean that if you were to take a move action out of a threatened square after using Clever Feint on the threatening creature, it would still be able to take an attack of opportunity. I have had some conversation with other people who have been treating Clever Feint (and Clever Attack) as granting the flat-footed condition in its entirety.

The term "flat-footed against your attack" is not defined anywhere tgat I have found in the kind of details that would cover all edge cases, like whether casting a spell with an attack roll would provoke a reaction from a creature under this effect.

So, what, if any, reactions can a creature take after a Clever Feint.

Note: this is not a question of balance, as an envoy using Clever feint is not unbalanced in either interpretation, just an attempt to find a rules consensus or even a clarification from some passage that I have missed.

The spell refers to affecting targets inside it's range... but no range is given.

The 8th level theorum Versatile Injections allows your injections that normally only affect living creatures to instead affect any creature. At first glance, this seems very useful, as the biohacker's offensive injection options against some common types of enemies, especially undead and constructs are limited to the (admittedly quite useful) basic counteragent.

However, looking at the Field of Study specific counteragents, none of them seem to actually derive much benefit from removing the restriction that causes them to only affect living creatures. The special injections gained through Theorum selections also don't seem to gain from this theorum.

FIELD OF STUDY INJECTIONS

Endocrinology:
Counteragent - Fatigue, does not affect construct or undead

Genetics:
Counteragent - Poison effect - Does not affect construct, undead, elemental

Immunology:
Counteragent - lowers fortitude saves. This works on everything, but constructs and undead are immune to most effects that require a fortitude save

Neurochemistry:
Counteragent - Poison effect - Does not affect construct, undead, elemental

Pharmacology:
Counteragent - Mind-affecting - Does not work on undead or constructs

Toxicology:
Counteragent - Poison effect - Does not affect construct, undead, elemental

THEORUM INJECTIONS

Tranq Dart - Causes sleep, which does not affect construct, elemental or undead

Heart Stopper - Fortitude save based effect that does not affect undead or constructs

Stunning Agent - Does not affect undead or constructs, both as a fort-save based effect and as a stun effect

Synaptic Deadening - Does not have a "living creature" requirement to begin with

Is there a major category of nonliving creatures that I am not considering. If not, versatile injections seems to serve little purpose, as the biohacker's injections don't really become applicable to the targets that were able to ignore them before.

The Entropy Pool ability grants a +1 enhancement bonus to AC.

The Entropy Strike is treated as a weapon with the operative and blocking properties.

The blocking property has the effect that when you successfully strike a target with a melee attack using such a weapon, you gain a +1 enhancement bonus to your AC for 1 round against melee attacks from that target.

If the defensive bonuses from entropic pool and entropic strike are intended to work together, one of them may need to change type.

Frequently, fusion seals that are found in SFS scenarios, often because they would be useful in the scenario, not just as random treasure. Has there been any consideration of a Society campaign rule that would allow fusion seals to take effect in less than the normal 24 hours, rendering them usable?

Encumbered
All of your speeds are reduced by 10 feet, your maximum Dexterity bonus to your Armor Class is reduced to +2, and you take a –5 penalty to Strength- and Dexterity-based checks (or you take your armor’s armor check penalty, whichever is worse).

As NPCs do not use the AC calculation of PCS, including armor and dexterity bonus, what, if any, effect does the encumbered condition have on the AC of NPCs?

Why does the Tier 6 Drake have linked missle launchers in the turret when only direct fire weapons can be linked?

So, throttle weapons only deal damage on a grapple, and can treat a grapple as an attack for special abilities that boost damage, like trick attack.

This makes strangling compatible with a few things, including trick attack, and the overcharge mechanic trick (for powered weapon variants.)

However, only being able to make the grapple attempt with damage-boosting abilities means that envoy improvisations like Clever Attack cannot be used with these weapons. Most oddly, Improved Get 'Em would be usable with throttle weapons, but ONLY when spending resolve to provide a damage boost as well as a too-hit boost?

So, I suppose what I'm wondering is, is there any good reason for throttle weapons to only be compatible with abilities that boost damage, or was someone not thinking about non-Operative classes existing when the weapon property was written?