MatthewHudson's page

Good day! I need some help cancelling all of my paid subscriptions for physical products, thank you!

Presanctioning? PREsanctioning? PRESANCTIONING?!?!?!? I was disgruntled with the speed of sanctioning for Pathfinder APs, but not I am gruntled. Thurston you and all who toil under your iron fist are fantastic.

While I understand the purpose of Free RPG Day and the later timing on getting a pdf is to get people into their local gaming stores, has anyone thought about just providing PDFs of the maps in advance to support people running on Free RPG Day?

I think this has been asked every year as far back as the first We Be Goblins, and there's some legal reason or somesuch about digital products tied to free rpg day. I've made it a habit to just take them to a local print shop for high res scans once I have the booklet then print them to scale. Not always the best quality and if the maps have a lot of overlay graphics and writing that becomes a problem (like when a big "S" for secret door pops up over a wall).

Personally I'd love it if we could get the maps and chronicles and pregens all in one package a week before the event, but timing and overlap with Origins makes that a challenge every year, possibly more so now with Origins being the season refresh for Starfinder.

That’s a strange oversight that we thought had copied over from the Skitter Shot sanctioning document on which this one was modeled.

Official: If a player has a boon allowing her to create a skittermander PC, she may also choose to play that character so long as the PC is 3rd- or 4th-level.

THANK YOU JOHN! I was disgruntled, but now I am gruntled. Many soft furry helpful annoyances will cheer your name and erect monuments in your image.

that's... it? I mean, why doesn't the Skitter Shot module allow players to play their skittermander characters like they could in the Skitter Shot module? There were probably less than 6 total legal skittermander characters campaign-wide last year that could play, and this year there were a lot more (myself included) who were excited about being able to potentially play this with their SFS legal skittermander characters that took no small effort to earn.

Was the lack of itemized gear at the bottom of the chronicle sheet an oversight on this one?

When can we expect the printable Pregen pdfs to drop on these?

"Um, wait, I know this... yes. Wait, NO. No? Why is he looking at me like that?"

"Well, by *simulator* I mean vidgame... NearSpace Truckers 7, the graphics are pretty amazing for non-VR. When you add the DLC for the guns and weapons the cool thing is that nobody gets to shoot back at you!"

I'll go ahead and use my promotional shirt reroll on that attack (with +1 nova)

Ghost killer defiant anchoring doshko, advanced: 1d20 + 13 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 13 + 1 = 25 vs. KAC
P Damage: 2d12 + 15 ⇒ (5, 2) + 15 = 22

"wait, guys, how do we know we're ACTUALLY out of VR... maybe we're still trapped there... OH NO, IT'S HAPPENING. WE'LL BE STUCK IN HERE FOREVER. I *KNEW* THIS WAS A TERRIBLE IDEA..."

Grav spends his first round disbelieving and reacting to reality

Grav spends his second round checking over himself and poking and prodding Justin to see if he seems "real"

"oh hell no!"

The technicians, I'm guessing 4 or 5, try to pin Grav down as his physical body is having a hard time keeping up with his mental understanding of what needs to be done here

"These things are the devil! I had this friend, guy had a pretty boring life, and he went to this VR place so they could plug him up with wires and give him a fake "vacation" throwing virtual memories at him and stuff, dude thought he was some kind of spy double agent or some nonsense, ended up travelling to Akiton or something and helping a whole bunch of radiation poisoned mutants. Long story short, his head got all scrambled and he ended up in a coma for two years, TWO YEARS. He woke up finally all batty going on and on about Abadar Corp stealing the atmosphere and then jumped out the window. I mean, he was only on the second story of the med center, so he only broke his legs, but the point is THESE THINGS ARE THE DEVIL!"

After a tranquilizer you suspect could be used to take down a squad of humans, Grav falls into a VR slumber, mumbling about space spiders in his earballs.

The conversation with VC Naiaj is broken as Grav noisily drags a large Ammo crate with the stenciled word "MISSILES" across the side in Vesk.(Emergency Resupply Starship Boon) "Oh hey VC Naiaj, you're looking... good? You really need to take a vacation to Akiton sometime, get a little color." He continues dragging the crate towards one of the ships Oh, we totally called dibs on this one, just bringing some extra gear that I... found... on board. Hey Justin, you want a hand doing the engine checks on the other ships? Always easier with one in the cockpit.

Engineering Assist: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

Player Name: Matthew Hudson
Character Name: Grix "Grav" Gorixxas
PFS#-character#: 4519-701
Faction: Exo-Guardians
exp before this adventure: 15xp
fame before this adventure: 27
reputation and factions before this adventure:
Exo-Guardians : 28
Wayfinders : 1
anything I should know about your character: Grav fancies himself a pretty good pilot (Ace Pilot, +14 total). Ever since he was younger he dreamed about exploring beyond Absalom Station behind the controls of his own starship. The Starfinder Society gave him that chance and he hasn't looked back since.

He joined up with the Exo-Guardians when the Scoured Stars Incident claimed some of the most notable warriors and defenders of the Society. He has since proven to be an absolute terror on the battlefield, covering long distances and charging over difficult terrain (gore+charge attack) and past enemies (mobility) with ease to deliver devastating hits to rearward commanders and casters. Once he's closed in with his target he uses his sheer size and speed, he distracts them granting allies a bonus to shoot the target (coordinated Shot) and also making it harder for other adversaries to shoot him (Close Combat). Once engaged he'll pursue anyone too fearful to stand toe-to-toe with him in combat (step up and strike) and take advantage of their cowardice.

Maybe it would be helpful to compile a list of all of the things that either are swift actions by default or that become a swift action as a result of a feat, race feature, or some other ability in addition to all the current full actions to break the norm to see if any of those are grossly imbalanced when combined with the ability to take any full action in combination with a swift action?

Swift actions in column A, full actions in column B, and see if any matches seem really terrible.

It would also show all the things that right now as written you CAN'T do together, even with those special features that make actions faster.

I agree at first glance early observation, the Mechanic Overcharge ability is a great way as a STANDARD action to apply the benefit and shoot. Compared to many other classes, that's not easy and includes additional skill checks, and/or more actions.

I'm also not seeing anywhere anythign about not being able to use both the overcharge for your Standard Action attack AND using the move action to grant the bonus to an ally's touched weapon.

So Mechanic Operative and Operative Sniper buddy pair, Mechanic goes first,

Mechanic
Move Action: Boost Operative weapon
Standard Action: Ready Action for Overcharge Weapon Attack when Operative shoots

Operative
Full Action: Trick Attack now-Overcharged rifle and apply debilitation
*READIED ACTION* Overcharge Attack against now debuffed target

Operative delays next turn as the Mechanic's readied action puts him behind the Operative in initiative. Rinse. Repeat.

It seems this thread has gotten far off topic and devolved into a debate against Operatives vs. Solarians.

The key suggestion I was making started with focusing on something that seemed thematically out of place, and resulted in noticing MORE things that were thematically out of place. I don't think the Solarian is thematically out of place here since they can charge and draw their weapon as part of the charge, and starting at level 2 even have an ability to support charging as a standard action (allowing 3x movement when also using your move action to move up to your speed). I'm being up front and saying I don't know a lot about the Solarian as it already feels like a pretty gimped class with lots of quirkiness, a heavy distribution of attributes it requires, and a three round build up for what appears to be a couple of let down powers at early levels. The classes all feel extremely unique in that I've noticed a small pile of balance issues when comparing one class ability against another, but the kind of errata and balancing that would be required to truly bring all the classes in line would probably be on par with numerous patch rollouts of buffs and nerfs in an MMO. Starfinder and Paizo can't support that level of change, and it would be a huge shot in the foot.

My suggestion has been pretty consistent that ALL of the issues and arguments about combined actions get resolved with one minor change, remove the swift action consumption from the full action. It just happens to be a large change based on how many things it opens up not only in just the core rules, but also in certain class builds and options, and without a thorough examination of ALL possibilities to make sure it doesn't royally break something, I'm sure it just isn't going to be a change they adopt.

HWalsh, that's part of what i'm trying to address here. This isn't a weakness that every other class has, it's a poor implementation of the basic rules for Full Actions and swift actions that create a silly and unintuitive restriction that will more often than not force rules between players and fun without people specifically making house rules to go around them.

There ARE Full Actions that allow the ability to draw a weapon and use it, such as a charge. There aren't so far as I can see any ways to do it with a Full Attack. The idea here is that the same thing is still happening, a weapon is being drawn, and an attack is being made. If you wanted that attack to be two shots as part of a Full Attack, then you'd need a re-write of the core rules on Full Actions to not consume the Swift Action, the same way the Full Round Action worked in PF.

EC, the standup wouldn't be allowed for the same reason currently a draw isn't allowed, they're both listed specifically as move actions, which is consumed by the Trick Attack Full Action.

It's the barriers I continue to run into that plenty of abilities and options sound fantastic like they're letting you do something different from everybody else, until you actually step back and compare the real mechanics behind it and find that things aren't compatible or are happening in the same way, just with a different name.

If the Swift action wasn't consumed by the Full Action, it would make so much more sense and offer so many more possibilities to work in concert as real benefits when they "speed up" an action like drawing a weapon or standing up as a swift action.

If Full Actions are meant to be super restrictive and exceedingly rare and difficult to pull off, then they shouldn't make that the key way that the Operative does damage on par with other combat classes. Compare it to the Mechanic, which seems like a support character, until you realize they can add more damage (+1d6) with the overcharge ability, and it happens as PART OF the standard action, doesn't even consume a separate action, and doesn't have any chance of failure as it doesn't require a skill check like Trick Attack.

It just seems crazy that the "timing" of the damage is more important than the amount of damage when determining death vs unconsciousness.

Metaphysician seems to have an illness that's affecting his respiratory system ironically:

"A monster or NPC reduced to 0 HP is dead, unless the last bit of damage it took was nonlethal damage, in which case it is knocked unconscious."

That is the first and absolute sentence. What the GM *can* decide to do has no bearing in things like organized play where the rules need to be run exactly with very little room for table variation, and the argument of "well if you wanted tot ake him alive you shouldn't have shot him with a lethal weapon *even a little bit*" can clearly spell the difference between success and failure. You need to time it correctly, and in many cases taking some deep penalties to ensure that the "last bit" is nonlethal. How do we know when we're close? How do we know that somebody won't *accidentally* get a crit doing far more damage than intended? It requires bringing the outside elements of game mechanics into the roleplaying of the combat encounter in a way that I just don't feel makes any sense trying to ever incorporate nonlethal damage ever if you can instead just take them alive using lethal damage.

I appreciate Mr. Stephens weighing in though and giving a little background on why the decision was made though, so thank you!

Most of my confusion came from the inability to look at all of the comparable circumstances of other options and extrapolate a probable intention to confirm.

The stealth check to hide and observation rules are the parts that specifically bug me and so far, and "doing something else with stealth" I would at least ask "what is it then?" To date I haven't been provided with a good description of actions even flavor -wise to demonstrate what the person is doing with stealth to get the benefit. From a design perspective mechanics for the sake of mechanics with no reasonable explanation generally fall flat and are open to boring abuse. The fact that the Ghost gets a +4 to a skill that is tied to their primarily ability is mostly what bugs me, and the fact that limitations exist for the computers skill with the hacker specialization prove that it *could* be a limitation that was poorly worded. If the typical limitations for using stealth while being observed and without cover don't apply to using the trick attack, then at the very least I'd like to see that verbage added.

In the games I've had so far my compromise was that if the ghost wanted to get that bonus and use stealth they would need the same kind of cover or concealment situations that were needed to hide, BUT for a trick attack that would also involve soft cover from allies or enemies.

That actually led to a pretty amusing game with the operative constantly hiding behind the Kasatha and earning the title "The Fifth Arm" as he would shoot between the Kasatha's limbs.

The fact is that because so many options with Starfinder went in different directions without explanation and without consistency it's hard to defend any intentions. We just need an actual FAQ or official ruling to help explain from the horses mouth what was intended, and how the wording can be fixed to reflect that.

Also don't forget that by level 5 the whole possible issue of hiding while being observed or without cover/concealment etc is dealt with by the Cloaking Field ability assuming the verbage on "While the cloaking field is active, you can use Stealth to hide, even while being directly observed and with no place to hide." is adequate for any changes made to the verbage for Trick attack

Ok, so I'm a little concerned and confused on the wording for the Exo-Guardian Tier 1 Boon "Theoretical Historian" Since it has a cost of 0 and I have Tier 1 status with the Exo-Guardians, I "purchased" it for my -1 character.

Benefit: If you run a scenario as a GM that you have already run as a GM, you can take a Chronicle sheet from that scenario and apply it to this character. This Chronicle sheet provides no rewards (such as XP, credits, or boons), except that you can mark the chronicle sheet as being completed as part of this boon and earn 1 additional Fame and 1 additional Reputation with the Exo-Guardians Faction for your associated character.

So here's my situation, I played 1-00 and applied the lessened rewards to the character and I played 1-01. I then GM'ed the Quest Pack and applied it to the character.

So here's the issue, I then ran the Commencement twice, so the second run would trigger the requirement of running a scenario as a GM that i have already run.

Can I "apply" that chronicle to this character for the +1 Fame / +1 Rep , or does "apply" in this context count just like applying a chronicle as a GM but minus the rewards? If it's applied just like a GM chronicle, that would in some cases further prevent the character from ever playing in that game, or having a regular GM chronicle applied in a case where a replay credit could be used from a GM Nova. If there is no restriction on the chronicle itself to the point where somebody could "apply" the same scenario chronicle to the character over and over, once per tier, is it possible to word this a little better like the Digital Presence boon or the other ones that allow the 1 Fame / 1 Rep bump for unique circumstances?

Stealth is the only skill that I generally have an issue with using, simply because the use of the skill requires concealment or cover from the target for it to work. The description most people use trying to justify the stealth check for the trick attack while standing in plain sight has to do with concealing the shot itself, which is pretty much the description they give as flavor text for using Sleight of Hand "You can use Sleight of Hand to make a trick attack by concealing your weapons and motions."

I mostly run for SFS right now, so the distinction of the Ghost specialization giving a +4 bonus to a dex based skill that can also have a free skill focus feat, and having the person sit in the middle of an open area using the skill "because the text says I can" is something I'm hoping gets errata'd or clarified soon. It bothers me that the more I look into the rules and the math of the system, I'm finding *less* flexibility with the rules and the things you might think work really well with the class that seems best for it, are actually outperformed by a different class.

Sid De Squid wrote:

So is the same discount going to be provided to ballistic weapons? Or is there no longer going to be game balance between battery powered weapons and ballistics?

Nothing at present. The Organized Play team will be monitoring things, as we always do, to get a sense of if other rules need tweaking.

The focus of this update had nothing to do with addressing any sort of "weapon type parity", but instead to focus on the in-game assumptions of how batteries work in the Starfinder setting. The idea of Starfinders not having a free battery recharge station available, especially when more than just weapons rely on batteries, was something we did not want players to have to deal with the minutiae of tracking. Similarly, the breaking of verisimilitude of the Society having battery charging stations at the Lorespire Complex and on starships that field agents couldn't access.

I'm well aware that this can easily lead down the rabbit hole of "why wouldn't the Society just buy us ammo for missions then?" which is an entirely different discussion, and one I certainly invite people to discuss: specifically, in a new thread in the Starfinder Society forums!

I started that discussion thread here: http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2unf9?Free-Batt-Recharging-Balance-options-for

along with two proposals for balancing ammo restock options with the free battery recharging. Feel free to provide input!

Somebody's gonna ask, might as well be me... In PFS the lvl 1-2 evergreen replayable scenarios/modules/APs had additional verbage that they could be replayed with level 1 characters as many times as you like (with the obvious limit of once per Character), but you could only play the material with a level 2 character *once*.

From your official clarification Thursty, I'm guessing the level 2 restriction doesn't apply and I could give credit to my level 2 -701 character for the one I'm playing and apply credit for GMing it to my level 2 -702 character as well?

Whoohoo! Now if we can get the Regional Support Program up and running before my Starfinder Society September Spectacular event we'll be aces ;-)

On the PFS side I'm excited about this getting sanctioned as I've been looking forward to running it. On the ACG side, I wish there was a better way to reward the ACG boons without needing them on the same sheet as for the RPG. While I like the crossover between the two systems as part of a large OP campaign focus I'm thinking the book keeping of tracking and bringing various RPG chronicles to ACG events will be more of a pain.

I would have preferred a format closer to the multi-part Pathfinder Tales chronicles where all of the ACG boons appear on one chronicle with a section for the GM to sign off which parts you have access to based on which RPG chronicles you've earned. PFS RPG chronicles stay with RPG materials, PFS ACG boons stay with ACG materials. Just an idea I had.

Here's something that needs to be taken into consideration as well. The Scenarios for free RPG day are not written by Paizo staff for PFS. They are written for the Free RPG day giveaway, and to hopefully have walk-ins sit down and play a game. PFS does not have to sanction the content. They owe you nothing. Anyone who believes they do needs to get over that. Just because it was done that way in the past does not mean extenuating circumstances won't lead to a Free RPG day module not being sanctioned.

Paizo also has many things on their plate right now with Paizocon and Gencon. As a relatively small company, I expect mistakes to be made, deadlines to be missed etc. Things happen.

All of that being said, There is another important thing to note in the adventure. NOWHERE does it list any tactics or morale stats whatsoever. None. If a GM chooses to take an encounter and slam into the party thrice over with the creature's single most powerful ability that he knows full well the pregens lack certain capabilities to overcome, then that is a GM I would never waste my time at a table with. As stated above, if you kill off the entire part 30 minutes into the game because the stats make it possible but nothing says you HAVE to, then everyone leaves, new players say "what a waste of time" veterans possibly lose characters to death permanently, etc. Overall, not a very good representation of the game system, the company that publishes their content, or the organized play group trying to promote it. I'm not afraid to TPK a party when the module or scenario calls for specific tactics, but there's also the need to step back and do what makes sense given the relative experience level of those involved.

My morning session defeated the encounter, as written with tactics and limitations I imposed based on what made sense to me. They were badly beaten up and thought twice about proceeding any further, but it was a strong wake up call that they all needed to start acting more like seasoned Pathfinders and less like door kicking murder-hobos.

I do not think that the GM variation that took place on free RPG day can be scrutinized given all the variables that come up and the lack of direct guidance in the module on how encounters should play out tactically. I do still believe that most of the published scenarios are being run as intended across the greater populace, and if there is a massive deviation from what is written (for better or for worse) it's because that GM specifically is disregarding the need for continuity and fairness across the world's organized play element. This was not one of those cases.

I would like to see some follow up input from the writer so that if changes need to be made based on what they intended, they can be done and included in the pdf download for future PFS sanctioned events specifically. This did not feel like it got the playtest it needed from a diverse group of varying experience levels as would be seen on free rpg day.

This has not yet come up in our Maryland area, but I know we have a few online players. I'll be sure to pass this info on in case they get any issues with "custom" chronicles.

Thanks for all the congratulations and warm welcomes! I'm looking forward to serving the area hopefully as well as my predecessors. I've been playing around with Pathfinder since the softcover beta book was available and I was testing it out with 4 friends while deployed to Iraq. I've really enjoyed everything about PFS, especially the support network of GMs and Venture Officers that keep the whole thing going, so I'm glad to continue that role now as a VC.

Unfortunately that means I leave behind a great VC Dan Simons who will in fact need to find a VL to replace me. Hopefully the trials he puts my replacement through will involve a lot less bloodshed. I'm still haunted by the horrors of winning that honor *shudder* :)