| Tom Larkin |
The Starfinder system has a number of major problems. The primary problem is the stamina/hit point system. At lower levels at least, while in combat, it is not possible to heal until a character has lost all stamina and about half hit points, or is at about 25% health. This is good for non-problem encounters, but deadly against serious MOBs. I haven't decided on a fix for this yet. The next problem is the spell system, for example the UTTERLY RIDICULOUS requirement that a Technomancer has to make a melee touch attack on a MOB to Inject Nanobots. At 4th level, attacking an ADOLESCENT mtn. eel with a 17 EAC and the Technomancer has a +3 melee attack bonus means that the Technomancer misses almost two-thirds of the time turning three 2cd level spells into one useful spell that the MOB gets to save against. I have created a local rule that a spell melee touch attack has a target number of 10+/- dex bonus. Same for a ranged touch attack. The third major problem is that so far the MOBs have both better attack bonuses and better armor classes than the PCs. Locally I am going to ignore both the level recommendations on equipment and I am going to change the cost and availability of armor and weapons. In truth, much of the equipment is useless. Where were the play testers when the differential in equipment levels goes from one to five? The fourth major problem is the disconnect between starship combat and normal play. The Mystic can only be the captain and four PCs are not sufficient to run the starship systems. Fifth, Piazo needs better program management. Besides having a flawed overall game concept, there should have been a complete Starfinder adventure path available on launching, only made more of a problem by having only four playable levels in the first two TEMPLE OF TWELVE adventures. There is a series of other problems that I may address later.