In previous campaigns, I was thinking a custom consumable item based on Cyclic Reincarnate would be the way to go since you can stay your own race and look related. But now I'm worried about pets, undead, constructs, etc... I'm thinking dying would break that control.
Bag of everlasting dung and the expeditious construction spell (gardener's best friend). I run expeditious construction so that the material component used is the type of material replicated. (Sand for the glassblower,fertile topsoil for raised bed gardens, limestone for the alchemist cement, granite for fieldstone foundations, slate roofing, cobblestone walkways, etc)
What if you start your day with magic item creation in a safe, quite location (like a home base), then later teleport to an adventuring location after crafting? Spoiler:
1. The creator also needs a fairly quiet, comfortable, and well-lit place in which to work.
2. Any place suitable for preparing spells is suitable for making items. 3. Creating an item requires 8 hours of work per 1,000 gp in the item’s base price (or fraction thereof), with a minimum of at least 8 hours. 4. Regardless of the time needed for construction, a caster can create no more than one magic item per day. 5. This process can be accelerated to 4 hours of work per 1,000 gp in the item’s base price (or fraction thereof) by increasing the DC to create the item by 5. 6. The caster can work for up to 8 hours each day. 7. He cannot rush the process by working longer each day, but the days need not be consecutive, and the caster can use the rest of his time as he sees fit. 8. If the caster is out adventuring, he can devote 4 hours each day to item creation, although he nets only 2 hours’ worth of work. 9. This time is not spent in one continuous period, but rather during lunch, morning preparation, and during watches at night. 10. If time is dedicated to creation, it must be spent in uninterrupted 4-hour blocks. 11. This work is generally done in a controlled environment, where distractions are at a minimum, such as a laboratory or shrine. 12. Work that is performed in a distracting or dangerous environment nets only half the amount of progress (just as with the adventuring caster). I think point #8 and #9 apply to crafting out in the adventuring space (in a camp site). #9 also has it interrupted, referencing lunch, morning preps and night watches. Point #12 reinforces that the adventuring caster is in a distracting or dangerous environment. If you are not “out adventuring” at the start of magic item creation and throughout the process, does it count as regular crafting with a full 8 hours counting as 8 hours towards crafting? If you then teleport to the dangerous environment after your 8 hours of crafting, can you get in another 8 hours of adventure before teleporting back to rest? I almost always go for a Ring of Sustenance, cutting down rest time to just 2 hours and freeing up more time for “leisure”. Also, some adventuring periods might not last a full 8 hours if you are limiting yourself to the duration of some buffs. (say, adventuring for a few hours, then resting)
Purify Food & Drink seems the easiest method for a PC. For NPC's, some with access to this orison put in charge of a granary doesn't sound unreasonable to me. Poor communities using root cellars could freeze buckets of water in the winter, and stack them in a root cellar for even colder storage.
Here's another take on the food part: Thanks to the "economy of scale" I can't craft anything cheaper than the cost of the trade goods that went into making it. Craft (cooking) then doesn't save me any more money than eating at the Vend'o'matic. I hate those damned crafting rules! grrrrrr. Also, if poor meals are nutritious <or> delicious, and good meals are both... then the difference between the two could be a good Craft (cooking) check (the "service" cost of eating out). Hithesius, good call though on the long-term rates. I missed that part of the Lodgings description. <stands on soapbox> "If you make Zombie Lord your commander in chief, I promise to build Free Battery chargers. And we'll make those space goblins and street gangs pay for it! You will be so happy with what I do with Absalom Station, believe you me. You watch. Folks will say they are so glad Zombie Lord is in charge." (edit: I thought it funny to note that my first character bought a Clear Spindle Aeon Stone. 245 credits later and my Android Technomancer can ignore those annoying bodily functions from the very beginning.)
Ade, good call on the equip and clothing! I forgot about those. Tools and clothing each would take less than 3 weeks to pay off. Definitely within reason for the average citizen. It is interesting though, that they both specify "Profession" checks to earn a living. By RAW, that wouldn't work when using other skills to earn a living, but I think it is within the RAI. A bonus to earning a living doesn't impact combat directly, and allowing their bonuses to be used with other skills is in-line with the option to use other skills described in the Profession skill description. I agree Scrapper, the modified min/max with tools/clothes are:
Mighty Khan, I agree that in the real world, there are other options. But the rules as written give us a template that describes the baseline for the world around us. PC's can shine, assuming they succeed in encounters. But how that success is measured, is by comparing it to the baseline. What is the PC's life like before adventure came and hit them in the face? d'Eon, the NPC I described is average (10) in stats, but actually very skilled otherwise (max ranks, skill focus, class skill bonus). Even if the average NPC were very (18) smart, wise or charismatic, (and have the bonuses Ade points out) I don't think their salary is impressive:
Looking at lodgings and meals: Sleep pod: 1/night (7/week)
Efficiency: 3/night (21/week)
Suite (per bed): 5/night (35/week)
Note: Field rations are the cheapest meal, at 1 credit per week (instead of per meal). however, if you survive for weeks on nothing but field rations, it's described as "not a pleasant experience". "Earn a Living" (credits = 2x skill check result) Considering the "Average Jane", starting with a 10 in their attribute score (putting +2 each 5 levels), class skill bonus (+3), skill focus feat (+3), max skill ranks per level, and taking 10 (or avg. roll): Level / skill check / credits per week 1 / 17 / 34
So the average person (ability score 10), could use field rations for occasional meals like the quick breakfast while running to work. Specialty tools (masterwork) might not be on the average person's wishlist. costing 445, and giving a +2 to a check (translating to +4 credits per week), would take over 2 years to pay itself off. Note:
Likewise, average folks are probably not buying augments. (too expensive to pay off) So, are most "average" people in Starfinder considered poor? (unable to afford common meals all day and an efficiency lodging? If you vote Zombie Lord for supreme overlord, I vow to bring back the dream of the middle class. Together, we can make Absalom Station great again!
The only roles that can only have one person, are the Pilot and You can have multiple Engineers. One can work on restoring shields, others can repair damaged systems. You can have multiple Science Officers. One can transfer shield points to the arc closest to the enemy, while others continue gathering additional info or target enemy systems. You can have multiple Gunners (only limited to one per weapon system). Just put max ranks in Pilot skill to replace the lower BAB. Even casters can benefit from higher Dexterity scores. They are only twiddling their thumbs if they chose to.
Do you guys/gals think UPB can be created using the Engineering skill at a rate equivallent to your check for "Earning a Living"? They're trade goods. Mechanically, it's no different than earning a salary and turning around and purchasing them. Some skill must be used to craft them. Maybe my Engineering toolkit includes a small 3D printer and they require constant fine tuning (skill check)...
good call on this one! That reminds me of a scene in the Starship's Mage series of books. (Good read btw)
Make up whatever flavor text floats your boat. The cost to craft equaling market value is just for game balance. If you feel your behind the WBL power curve, and you have a stash of goods, you can use that as flavor text for making profession or craft checks to "Earn a Living". For earning a salary, it doesn't matter if your basket weaving, buying and selling second hand gear, recylcling-scavenging, or babysitting. Just don't be surprised if adventure hunts you down when the market value of all your gear plus the salary you earned puts you in the WBL bracket for the next character level.
I would love the option to play an A.I. <insert plug for We Are Legion (We Are Bob) here>
Having Pilot as a class skill does nothing for the gunner position. A gunner's attack roll uses either BAB or Ranks in the Pilot skill.
I wanted to make a Von Neumann Spacecraft/Probe named Bob... but there wasn't an option to play an A.I. ...or costs for building more spaceships.
I'm going to miss custom designed magic items with multiple abilities.
I agree with Stone Dog. Once we see the write-up for undead, we'll see what their default settings are. If the mindless types target your opponents like summoned monsters, it wouldn't be any worse than evocations. If they stay in murder-death-kill mode when not commanded... then it would be a different story.
I think armor's environmental protection has typos. Below -20 and higher than 140 is open ended and infinite. I think they meant "as low as -20 and as high as 140".
They do this because "power = survival" and "money = power" within the rules of the game. I agree with this 100% (or 10% if my opinion could be sold). It's basic economics too. Money buys stuff. Stuff is useful. At 10%, we would need to carry 5x the loot than we did in pathfinder to have the same value (or make 5x the trips to our cargo holds). This section of the book also tossed around the word "assume" too much imho. I also think the assumption was wrong. I think this will cause more of the behavior they hoped to curb. Knowing I'll get less in return, I'll have to scavenge even more. Having timed events would be the only thing to limit extreme scavenging.
Sadly, no explicit rules for breaking down UPBs, but they can be reconfigured or reshaped by programming. Think nanobots from Stargate. Also, as much as I like the recycling idea, that could be explained by the Engineering roll to "Earn a Living" as described in the profession skill.
Androids can have 1 armor upgrade, that takes only 1 slot and can be in light armor... (page 205) TENSILE REINFORCEMENT: When calculating your armor’s hardness and Hit Points (see page 409), treat it as if its item level were 5 higher. Do you guys think this could apply to the Android's HP? (probably not, but I thought it looked fun)
...or skeleton/zombie on a treadmill. seriously though, the size of the armor mod should be an indication of how small a charging unit could be. The Backup Generator armor upgrade only costs 2,100 to craft/buy (page 205). The recharge spell is for Technomancers, not Mystics, and it destroys your battery 20% of the time. Again, I'm ok with paying for NPC services... but if you have a Technomancer in the party, you're not paying. It would be reasonable for power plants to have 20 year's worth of fuel like a submarine or aircraft carrier. Or they could use a ram-scoop and grab hydrogen from gas giants. Or have a magical fuel source that takes spell slots from downtime. (page 234) Recharging Stations: At the GM’s discretion, some larger starships might have onboard recharging stations. These might offer recharging at low or no cost, but they typically take 1 minute per charge to recharge a battery or power cell. (page 299) Power Core Housing: An expansion bay can be set aside for an additional power core (which must be purchased separately) and the associated wiring and safety apparatuses. A power core housing can be installed on only a Medium or larger starship.
Cleaning and repairing gear is easy (through magic or mundane skills). If a piece of equipment (armor, computers, tools, and yes: weapons) carries a major manufacturer's brand name, then the "reputation" of the manufacturer should still be worth something. A used car still has some brand name reputation recognition. Toyota's are reliable... Yugo, Ford Pinto or Chevy Vega.... meehhhh, not so much. Warranties are also meaningless without game mechanics saying what a vendor's return policy looks like. There's no game mechanics difference between buying from a brand name outlet store, and mom and pop corner shop. In a game where there are no game mechanics for brand new equipment stats vs. used equipment, there is no in-game reason to charge differently for them. If it were an option, I'd look for the pawn shop selling used gear for 20% of market value. I agree that depreciation is a thing. I was ok with Pathfinder and previous versions of D&D only offering 50% of market value... but that was balance by 50% to craft magic items. How about this: there is no cost reduction for crafting, so raw materials cost = the finished item's market value. Salvage gear then, and break them down to the raw materials, and sell the raw materials as Trade Goods at full value. Go Recycling! That would be a great positive message to save the environment. ;-)
I don't think it should cost so much to charge batteries. Sure it should cost something if hiring that service from an NPC, but I don't think it should cost anything if you have a source of power. Power plants of larger ships (may) be able to have stations to charge batteries. That limit seems absurd to me. Crafting a small charger unit should be easier imho, or diverting power from even the smallest power plant during periods of low demand should be easier for someone with the Engineer skill. The Recharge spell having a 20% chance to destroy a battery also sounds silly to me. Who is going to risk throwing away the money spent on batteries?
I like that crafting feats are not required. I even like that crafting does not reduce the cost. It makes it fair and preserves game balance. I don't like that selling back items only gets you 10% of the market value. That's going to bug the heck out of me. If there's no cost savings to crafting, because of the "economy of scale", then market values should be very close to the raw material costs. I could accept selling gear being closer to 90%. The middle man gets to make a profit. If selling back items is 10%, then crafting should only cost 10% imho. If crafting costs full market value, then selling back items should be closer to full market value imho. This is going to be a thorn or itch in my brain every time I play now.
Let's say you start off as a Human, then are changed into a Juju Zombie. You have the undead creature type, and do not breathe, eat, or sleep. You then have Polymorph any Object cast upon you to "Assume the Form" of a Human. Polymorph any Object: This spell functions like greater polymorph, except that it changes one object or creature into another. Greater Polymorph: If the form is that of a humanoid, the spell functions as alter self. Alter Self: When you cast this spell, you can assume the form of any Small or Medium creature of the humanoid type. Polymorph doesn't change your actual creature type, but instead gives you specific bonuses and abilities based upon the specific spell being cast. So, if you have the Undead creature type, but a Humanoid "form" from PaO, do you still not need to breathe, eat, or sleep? Can you be affected by drugs or alcohol? Can you breed with humanoids?
My question relates to the sections on Special Spell Effects and Combining Magic Effects. Special Spell Effects (PRD Link) Specifically: "Bonuses without a type always stack, unless they are from the same source." What is the definition of "Same Source"? If a bonus is untyped, and they come from different people, are the people the source or is the name of the ability they use the source? I am looking for a general definition of Same Source that I can apply elsewhere, but I also have these two specific examples: 1. Arcane Subdomain. 2. Eldritch Aid (feat, advanced class origins, couldn't find it in the Piazo PRD) For either of these, if you have multiple characters providing the same benefit, do they stack? For example: If you have 100 clerics with the Arcane Subdomain, is each cleric a different source? or is the Arcane Subdomain itself considered the source? Likewise, if you have 100 casters using the Eldritch Aid feat in the same round, is each caster a different source? or is the Eldritch Aid feat considered the source? |
