questions and comments from the twitch playtest

[Torbyne]

Man, that video had a lot to take in... does anyone know more about some of these questions or notes to add?

EAC, which is presumed to be Energy Armor Class, sort of takes the place of touch AC but we also still have energy types... any word on elemental resistances yet? A lot of those laser hits were kinda weak and Fire Resist 5 would have rendered most lasers useless. I get that lasers will scale with level but resistances usually do too.

Computers as a single skill for both using computers (ie sensors) and programing/hacking. Cool, love some skill consolidation.

Life Sciences covers all monster ID that was previously split between all knowledges?

Mysticism is a catch all for parts of Kn: Arcana, Kn: Religion and Spellcraft?

Did they get an auto crit on a natural 20? no confirmation roll? streamlined system perhaps?

It was neat to see a dwarf in play since there has been so much talk of them not being a core race. also, dwarf space fortresses sound awesome.

Was that all just table banter about cheek pouches or do we think Ysoki can actually store items for quick retrieval?

I dont remember hearing any use of swift or immediate actions. yes, they are all low level in the game but still, the extra missile from a full action vice standard action makes me think they may have done away with the broad categories of action types.

It was neat to see the Mechanic had to spend an action to give their droid a full set of actions, reigning in action economy for pet classes is probably a solid move.

What did the Solarion do to get two attacks at level two? Was that just a full attack action similar to the Technomancer's three Magic Missiles?

There was some tracking on ammo/charges but i only caught one reload after the droid used a full auto cone template. Neat, makes me wonder about ammo capacity and useage. I noticed 1=1 for regular shots, 3 charges netted an extra 1D4 on a 1D6 laser and didnt catch what the expenditure was on the auto fire aside from spending an action to reload after the attack.

The level two technomancer also cast 4 spells, right? three magic missiles and one over charge (which, wow, a level two character adding 4D6 to a ranged attack for the cost of a single action/level one spell slot seems very nice indeed!) sounds good for a 2/3 caster.

Any word on Stamina/Resolve refreshing resource pools for spells and the like?

Did anyone catch if the Solarion was using a resource pool for abilities? i heard something about rounds of attunement and since he was recharging attunement between fights i take it you cant max out attunement outside of combat and wade in full set? likewise there was some telekentic shenanigans that resulted in immune for the rest of the day when the baddie made their save so i hope there isnt an additional resource cost on top of that.

Sorry for being late to the party on this, work like balance and all kept me from seeing and commenting when it happened. Did i miss anything?

[Shisumo]

Torbyne wrote:

Man, that video had a lot to take in... does anyone know more about some of these questions or notes to add?

EAC, which is presumed to be Energy Armor Class, sort of takes the place of touch AC but we also still have energy types... any word on elemental resistances yet? A lot of those laser hits were kinda weak and Fire Resist 5 would have rendered most lasers useless. I get that lasers will scale with level but resistances usually do too.

I suspect that what were resistances will convert now into bonuses to EAC.

Torbyne wrote:

Did they get an auto crit on a natural 20? no confirmation roll? streamlined system perhaps?

Seems to be the case, yes. No confirm, and double damage. (It's still possible that there are higher crit multipliers, but I admit I'm skeptical.)

Torbyne wrote:

What did the Solarion do to get two attacks at level two? Was that just a full attack action similar to the Technomancer's three Magic Missiles?

That's my money. Isn't there a similar mechanic in Kirthfinder?

Torbyne wrote:

Any word on Stamina/Resolve refreshing resource pools for spells and the like?

Didn't sound like it. Think it was just stamina points.

Torbyne wrote:

Did anyone catch if the Solarion was using a resource pool for abilities? i heard something about rounds of attunement and since he was recharging attunement between fights i take it you cant max out attunement outside of combat and wade in full set? likewise there was some telekentic shenanigans that resulted in immune for the rest of the day when the baddie made their save so i hope there isnt an additional resource cost on top of that.

Sounded like there's no resource pool, but you have to be attuned one way or the other to some extent to get access to certain abilities.

[Torbyne]

I hope they switch resistance to EAC bonus. it would help simplify combat resolution and bring TWF up to parity somewhat with THF.

all in all, the video worked, i would like to know more. :)

i wonder how resource pools will be handled. i like the options they open up but you can have two or three pools of special points to track in Pathfinder now and that can be a little much.

[Owen K. C. Stephens]

Torbyne wrote:

you can have two or three pools of special points to track in Pathfinder now and that can be a little much.

I'll just say, "I agree."

[Jason Keeley]

And that GM was great! Hilarious, and handsome, too. I bet he has all kinds of friends!

[Owen K. C. Stephens]

Jason Keeley wrote:

And that GM was great! Hilarious, and handsome, too. I bet he has all kinds of friends!

I guess he might have friends...

...
I mean, like two of them. That's plural.

[Torbyne]

Oh yes, i tend to focus on game mechanics since that is the big secret right now but some solid GMing and a nice splash of space lawyering going on as well!

Also, if Ysoki can store grenades in cheek pouches than we have all kinds of fun new puns to work with. Deadly smiles indeed...

[Jason Keeley]

Torbyne wrote:

Oh yes, i tend to focus on game mechanics since that is the big secret right now but some solid GMing and a nice splash of space lawyering going on as well!

Thanks Torbyne! I wasn't fishing for any compliments, but I do appreciate them!

I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised with some of the new racial abilities!

[Jhaeman]

That GM was roguishly handsome and Einstein-ian brilliant. My favourite part of the video (which for some reason was redacted from the Twitch archive) was when he said he was going PM a bunch of cool Starfinder info to a humble forum poster named Jhaeman. Man, what a guy, that GM.

[thecursor]

Torbyne wrote:

Oh yes, i tend to focus on game mechanics since that is the big secret right now but some solid GMing and a nice splash of space lawyering going on as well!

Also, if Ysoki can store grenades in cheek pouches than we have all kinds of fun new puns to work with. Deadly smiles indeed...

Already drawing up my Chaotic Neutral Half Elf Space Lawyer Envoy.

[Blackbeard2025]

Is this archived somewhere so we who missed it can see it?

[Letariel]

kain2025 wrote:

Is this archived somewhere so we who missed it can see it?

Owen pointed me to it in another thread. Enjoy! Starfinder on Twitch

[Torbyne]

Did we happen to see any of those racial abilities in the playtest that i may have missed? Aside from Ysoki being able to store explosives in their mouths for emergency purposes, obviously.

[Archmage Variel]

Torbyne wrote:

Did we happen to see any of those racial abilities in the playtest that i may have missed? Aside from Ysoki being able to store explosives in their mouths for emergency purposes, obviously.

I thought the storing things in the mouth thing was a joke, no?

[Torbyne]

Also, does anyone have a transcript or link to the Q&A session that happened after the playtest? i have seen references but nothing direct and i bet it would save a lot of redundant questions.

[Torbyne]

Archmage Variel wrote:

Torbyne wrote:

Did we happen to see any of those racial abilities in the playtest that i may have missed? Aside from Ysoki being able to store explosives in their mouths for emergency purposes, obviously.

I thought the storing things in the mouth thing was a joke, no?

I am pretty sure it was but if we all keep talking and acting like it is already confirmed than we might be able to pressure them into making it an alternate race trait in a future expansion. Keep the dream alive!

[Shisumo]

Torbyne wrote:

Did we happen to see any of those racial abilities in the playtest that i may have missed? Aside from Ysoki being able to store explosives in their mouths for emergency purposes, obviously.

Lashunta have innate telepathy, although I am reasonably sure we already knew that from their Pathfinder writeup. It did make an appearance in the playtest, though.

[David knott 242]

Torbyne wrote:

Archmage Variel wrote:

Torbyne wrote:

Did we happen to see any of those racial abilities in the playtest that i may have missed? Aside from Ysoki being able to store explosives in their mouths for emergency purposes, obviously.

I thought the storing things in the mouth thing was a joke, no?

I am pretty sure it was but if we all keep talking and acting like it is already confirmed than we might be able to pressure them into making it an alternate race trait in a future expansion. Keep the dream alive!

In Pathfinder, Ratfolk are comparable in power level to Humans, while Androids, Kasatha, and Lashunta are slightly more powerful. The easiest way to bring parity to these races would be to upgrade the power level of Ratfolk and Humans. Maybe this holding things in the mouth feature is one of the upgrades that this race will get in Starfinder?

[Gilfalas]

Torbyne wrote:

Also, does anyone have a transcript or link to the Q&A session that happened after the playtest? i have seen references but nothing direct and i bet it would save a lot of redundant questions.

Third party trasncript of the Q&A.

[Torbyne]

Shisumo wrote:

Torbyne wrote:

Did we happen to see any of those racial abilities in the playtest that i may have missed? Aside from Ysoki being able to store explosives in their mouths for emergency purposes, obviously.

Lashunta have innate telepathy, although I am reasonably sure we already knew that from their Pathfinder writeup. It did make an appearance in the playtest, though.

Good catch! I wonder if telepathy will act as a catch all for languages... imagine casting Blistering Invective by telepathic broadcast :D

[Archmage Variel]

Torbyne wrote:

Shisumo wrote:

Torbyne wrote:

Did we happen to see any of those racial abilities in the playtest that i may have missed? Aside from Ysoki being able to store explosives in their mouths for emergency purposes, obviously.

Lashunta have innate telepathy, although I am reasonably sure we already knew that from their Pathfinder writeup. It did make an appearance in the playtest, though.

Good catch! I wonder if telepathy will act as a catch all for languages... imagine casting Blistering Invective by telepathic broadcast :D

I'm excited for the contemplatives as a race. I hope they make their "mage hand" abilities a little closer to normal rules for humanoids with two limbs (maybe with a further range than normal limbs).

[Jason Keeley]

Jhaeman wrote:

That GM was roguishly handsome and Einstein-ian brilliant. My favourite part of the video (which for some reason was redacted from the Twitch archive) was when he said he was going PM a bunch of cool Starfinder info to a humble forum poster named Jhaeman. Man, what a guy, that GM.

Oh, you right, I totally DID say that! Let me just gather together this...

HEY! WAIT A MINUTE! Nice try, Jhaeman.

And I assume the rest of you are familiar with page 176 of Monster Codex?

[Lemartes]

Crit confirmation gone? I like crit confirmation.

I have an intense dislike for when a npc, pc or whatever can only hit a target on a natural 20 and they crit.

Simple enough to add back in for a home game.

[Archmage Variel]

So does this mean we can expect to see alternate race traits?

[Torbyne]

My mind is racing thinking of all the ways ship points could work... ship based backgrounds granting extra ship points at level up? Each class granting an extra point that can only be applied to a specific category? (Soldier ship points increase weapons, operatives increase cloaking/sensors, engineers get extra overall etc)

when asked about guns and armor they, well, Owen, said a lot but didnt actually answer the question! :P

Love that they removed crafting feats! ... Does this mean that UPBs are innately magical? Or has magic been researched to the point that knowing your enchantments is akin to knowing how to build a circuit and anyone who knows engineering could make an enchanted item?

[David knott 242]

David knott 242 wrote:

Torbyne wrote:

Archmage Variel wrote:

Torbyne wrote:

Did we happen to see any of those racial abilities in the playtest that i may have missed? Aside from Ysoki being able to store explosives in their mouths for emergency purposes, obviously.

I thought the storing things in the mouth thing was a joke, no?

I am pretty sure it was but if we all keep talking and acting like it is already confirmed than we might be able to pressure them into making it an alternate race trait in a future expansion. Keep the dream alive!

In Pathfinder, Ratfolk are comparable in power level to Humans, while Androids, Kasatha, and Lashunta are slightly more powerful. The easiest way to bring parity to these races would be to upgrade the power level of Ratfolk and Humans. Maybe this holding things in the mouth feature is one of the upgrades that this race will get in Starfinder?

I just came across the Cheek Pouches alternate racial trait in the Monster Codex, so this feature is not even new to Starfinder. That racial feature might be standard in place of Swarming for Starfinder Ratfolk since it is likely that there will be at most one Ratfolk in a typical adventuring party.

[Matthew Shelton]

Torbyne wrote:

Shisumo wrote:

Torbyne wrote:

Did we happen to see any of those racial abilities in the playtest that i may have missed? Aside from Ysoki being able to store explosives in their mouths for emergency purposes, obviously.

Lashunta have innate telepathy, although I am reasonably sure we already knew that from their Pathfinder writeup. It did make an appearance in the playtest, though.

Good catch! I wonder if telepathy will act as a catch all for languages... imagine casting Blistering Invective by telepathic broadcast :D

I'm hoping for a neutral language among the Pact Worlds that looks and sounds remarkably like Esperanto. :)

Jim Kirk speaks Basic: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=accFmyaOj7o;t=75

[Torbyne]

Matthew Shelton wrote:

Torbyne wrote:

Shisumo wrote:

Torbyne wrote:

Did we happen to see any of those racial abilities in the playtest that i may have missed? Aside from Ysoki being able to store explosives in their mouths for emergency purposes, obviously.

Lashunta have innate telepathy, although I am reasonably sure we already knew that from their Pathfinder writeup. It did make an appearance in the playtest, though.

Good catch! I wonder if telepathy will act as a catch all for languages... imagine casting Blistering Invective by telepathic broadcast :D

I'm hoping for a neutral language among the Pact Worlds that looks and sounds remarkably like Esperanto. :)

Jim Kirk speaks Basic: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=accFmyaOj7o;t=75

Some kind of Common tongue that the Common people of the Pact Worlds could use in Common with each other to keep things moving in the Common areas and Common trade routes of the setting perhaps? No idea what they'd call it though. ;)

[David knott 242]

I am sure that everyone will speak a language called "Common" and that that language will be represented by English or whatever language the books have been translated into. No mention will be made of whether that "Common" is the same as the Taldane Common used in Pathfinder.

[Torbyne]

David knott 242 wrote:

I am sure that everyone will speak a language called "Common" and that that language will be represented by English or whatever language the books have been translated into. No mention will be made of whether that "Common" is the same as the Taldane Common used in Pathfinder.

I am also curious if there will be universal translators, apparently a lot of low level utility magic effects have been rolled into tech items so this seems like a strong possibility. some device that knows all Pact World languages and can make a 1/day check on exposure to a new language to pick it up or the like.