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Check out this exclusive info on the Drift!
There's so much gaming potential in the Drift.
Also of note - starship scale confirmed!
Villain Idea: an armada of Space Pirates whose main base is on a fortress that got sucked into the Drift, and who randomly emerge to raid various places near Drift beacons before disappearing in the Drift again.
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Gummi Ships, anyone? No? Just me? ... okay...
:o
Holy crap I'm shaking in my space-boots! Ship stats!
IDARAN VOIDRUNNER TIER 1/3
Tiny racer
Speed 12; Maneuverability perfect (turn 0)
AC 15; TL 14
HP 20; DT—; CT 4
Shields basic 10 (forward 3, port 2, starboard 2, aft 3)
Attack (Forward) gyrolaser (1d8)
Power Core Micron Heavy (70 PCU); Drift Engine none;
Systems basic computer, basic mid-range sensors, mk 2 armor, mk 1 defenses; Expansion Bays none
Modifiers +2 Computers, +1 Piloting; Complement 1
CREW
Pilot Computers +7 (1 rank), gunnery +5, Piloting +11 (1 rank)
OKokok does anyone know what TL, DT or CT are? What's the significance of the PCU rating? How is power consumed? How are the "Modifiers" applied? What do the "CREW" stats (and X ranks) mean? Does "perfect (turn 0)" mean the ship can turn with every hex it moves through?
IS IT AUGUST YET?!
How 'bout now?...
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How 'bout that Triune origin?
Coooooool
OKokok does anyone know what TL, DT or CT are?
TL is normally Tech Level, but since it is right next to AC it might be something else.
CT is likely to be Critical Threshold, I think that was how much damage had to happen in a single roll before something goes sproing in your ship.
DT is right there with HP... Damage Threshold? Tolerance?
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For a starship to engage its Drift engines to either enter or exit the Drift, it must remain stationary with its conventional thrusters turned off for 1 minute.
I really hope there is a way around this. Probably something the engineer can roll for. A panicked attempt to jump out of a system is too classic to miss out on.
Pilot Computers +7 (1 rank), gunnery +5, Piloting +11 (1 rank)
It looks like skill ranks are rather similar to Pathfinder, if not the same. Possibly breaks down as...
Computers +7 (+1 rank, +3 class skill, +2 ship bonus, +1 INT)
Piloting (+1 rank, +3 class skill, +1 ship bonus, +4 DEX (maybe a touch generous here), +2 Skill Focus? )
But Gunnery +5 with no ranks? Curious.
DT may be something to do with the Drift.
RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16
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Pilot Computers +7 (1 rank), gunnery +5, Piloting +11 (1 rank)It looks like skill ranks are rather similar to Pathfinder, if not the same. Possibly breaks down as...
Computers +7 (+1 rank, +3 class skill, +2 ship bonus, +1 INT)
Piloting (+1 rank, +3 class skill, +1 ship bonus, +4 DEX (maybe a touch generous here), +2 Skill Focus? )
But Gunnery +5 with no ranks? Curious.
I'm thinking these skill listings might be minimums that each crewmember might need to avoid needing to make skill checks constantly or something, or even minimums to fill their roles in the ship at all. So that means that you need gunnery bonuses of at least 5 but don't need to necessarily have a skill rank in that skill, but for piloting and computers, you need to have at least one skill rank to be a pilot at all?
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I'm thinking these skill listings might be minimums that each crewmember might need to avoid needing to make skill checks constantly or something, or even minimums to fill their roles in the ship at all. So that means that you need gunnery bonuses of at least 5 but don't need to necessarily have a skill rank in that skill, but for piloting and computers, you need to have at least one skill rank to be a pilot at all?Pilot Computers +7 (1 rank), gunnery +5, Piloting +11 (1 rank)It looks like skill ranks are rather similar to Pathfinder, if not the same. Possibly breaks down as...
Computers +7 (+1 rank, +3 class skill, +2 ship bonus, +1 INT)
Piloting (+1 rank, +3 class skill, +1 ship bonus, +4 DEX (maybe a touch generous here), +2 Skill Focus? )
But Gunnery +5 with no ranks? Curious.
I read that as if the ship is an encounter... it currently has "Generic Pilot Jane Doe" with those skills.
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RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16
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I read that as if the ship is an encounter... it currently has "Generic Pilot Jane Doe" with those skills.I'm thinking these skill listings might be minimums that each crewmember might need to avoid needing to make skill checks constantly or something, or even minimums to fill their roles in the ship at all. So that means that you need gunnery bonuses of at least 5 but don't need to necessarily have a skill rank in that skill, but for piloting and computers, you need to have at least one skill rank to be a pilot at all?Pilot Computers +7 (1 rank), gunnery +5, Piloting +11 (1 rank)It looks like skill ranks are rather similar to Pathfinder, if not the same. Possibly breaks down as...
Computers +7 (+1 rank, +3 class skill, +2 ship bonus, +1 INT)
Piloting (+1 rank, +3 class skill, +1 ship bonus, +4 DEX (maybe a touch generous here), +2 Skill Focus? )
But Gunnery +5 with no ranks? Curious.
Ah, that is a totally reasonable option as well. :)
Chief Technical Officer
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For a starship to engage its Drift engines to either enter or exit the Drift, it must remain stationary with its conventional thrusters turned off for 1 minute.I really hope there is a way around this. Probably something the engineer can roll for. A panicked attempt to jump out of a system is too classic to miss out on.
Not saying whether there is or isn't (because frankly, I don't know) but isn't that situation just that much more dramatic when there's a countdown clock?
For a starship to engage its Drift engines to either enter or exit the Drift, it must remain stationary with its conventional thrusters turned off for 1 minute.I really hope there is a way around this. Probably something the engineer can roll for. A panicked attempt to jump out of a system is too classic to miss out on.
***Casts Tokyo Drift***
Problem solved! ;)
Not saying whether there is or isn't (because frankly, I don't know) but isn't that situation just that much more dramatic when there's a countdown clock?
It could be, but I think there is a marked flavor difference between "Can we withstand an assault for 10 turns" and "Can I overcharge the Drift engine and force a jump in time."
Also, what is the in world term for moving from the Material to the Drift? "Jump" is traditional, sure. "Shift" from "Plane Shift" would be fine, except for that the rhyme sounds silly. "Drift Shift." Jaunt? Maybe some pilots say the ship is about to "step Outside?" Perhaps the term comes from the ripping away of other planes. "Brace for Drift Tear!"
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Not saying whether there is or isn't (because frankly, I don't know) but isn't that situation just that much more dramatic when there's a countdown clock?For a starship to engage its Drift engines to either enter or exit the Drift, it must remain stationary with its conventional thrusters turned off for 1 minute.I really hope there is a way around this. Probably something the engineer can roll for. A panicked attempt to jump out of a system is too classic to miss out on.
I read this as thrusters off... no change in speed or direction. (Because in space, "stationary relative to WHAT?!") So, you're being chased and want to make a jump through the drift... you shut down your thrusters, hurtling through space with no flight control as you power up and engage the Drift engine while your gunners are blasting away at the pursuers.
yeah, i think that was new
Also, what is the in world term for moving from the Material to the Drift? "Jump" is traditional, sure. "Shift" from "Plane Shift" would be fine, except for that the rhyme sounds silly. "Drift Shift." Jaunt? Maybe some pilots say the ship is about to "step Outside?" Perhaps the term comes from the ripping away of other planes. "Brace for Drift Tear!"
I have nothing to do with formal Starfinder worldbuilding, but...
My space cowboy is gonna call it "Drifting."
The Drift is a place, Drifting is the act of using it for travel.
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***Casts Tokyo Drift***
Problem solved! ;)
A Technomancer spell/ritual would be good, yes! You might need purely physical processes to GET to the Drift, but a magical way to BOOST those processes might not be out of line. Especially if the spell is random.
Hasten Drift Jaunt
With applied principles of technomancy, a ship may be induced into the Drift space early. This process is not without dangers of its own!School: Transmutation (to directly affect the engine)
Level: Technomancer X
Casting Time: Full Round
Components: V,S,M (Something that has been in the Drift for more than a year)
Range: Touch
Target: Drift Engine touched
Duration: ConcentrationOn each round following the casting of the spell, there is a cumulative 5% chance that the ship makes the transition to the Drift early.
The percentage chance on the round when the transition occurs is added to both the Drift Engine rating when calculating travel time and the chance for a random encounter.
Ah, that is a totally reasonable option as well. :)I read that as if the ship is an encounter... it currently has "Generic Pilot Jane Doe" with those skills.I'm thinking these skill listings might be minimums that each crewmember might need to avoid needing to make skill checks constantly or something, or even minimums to fill their roles in the ship at all. So that means that you need gunnery bonuses of at least 5 but don't need to necessarily have a skill rank in that skill, but for piloting and computers, you need to have at least one skill rank to be a pilot at all?Pilot Computers +7 (1 rank), gunnery +5, Piloting +11 (1 rank)It looks like skill ranks are rather similar to Pathfinder, if not the same. Possibly breaks down as...
Computers +7 (+1 rank, +3 class skill, +2 ship bonus, +1 INT)
Piloting (+1 rank, +3 class skill, +1 ship bonus, +4 DEX (maybe a touch generous here), +2 Skill Focus? )
But Gunnery +5 with no ranks? Curious.
It could also be the skill ranks of the autopilot.
"All hands, prepare for Material transition, t-minus 1 minute from... mark."
Transition is likely the jargon that military, Science or Government ships use.
My space cowboy is gonna call it "Drifting."
The Drift is a place, Drifting is the act of using it for travel.
I can see that as a way to talk about something that happens while you are in the Drift. "We were Drifting for about three days when we came across the derelict ship."
TL is target lock, they mentioned it in the GAMA demo. It's your AC against 'lock-on' type weapons, I think.
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I wonder when you roll for the travel time. Before you enter the Drift? Immediately afterward? And who rolls - is it GM-only info or are the PCs assumed to know it as well?
"Drift transition complete, Captain."
"Thank you, Lieutenant. Ensign Barclay, scan for our exit point."
"Yes sir! Scanning... exit point located. Beacon 127 at 134-mark-29, Beacon 722 at 32-mark-171, Beacon 410 at 98-mark-114. Looks like 88 hours, Captain."
"Very good, Ensign. Plot the course. Main thrusters to full when ready."
I can see that as a way to talk about something that happens while you are in the Drift. "We were Drifting for about three days when we came across the derelict ship."My space cowboy is gonna call it "Drifting."
The Drift is a place, Drifting is the act of using it for travel.
Space Cowboy would say, "We'd been on the Drift for about a week when people started to get sick."
An homage to one of my favorite Ken Kesey-employed expressions from Sometimes a Great Notion, "on the bounce."
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So...
"entering the Drift causes pieces of other planes of existence to be torn off and drawn in"
Does... this seems like a pretty big problem for good characters to anyone else? I mean, since every use of the drift turns into apparently irreversible damage to the multiverse.
Do no good people drive gas powered cars?
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I dunno... It just seems kind of evil to, you know, use an engine that slices up existence... Like, that next shred might be part of someone's liver, or a unique piece of art, or part of an engine that's keeping a star from exploding.
It's like driving a car that fires a bullet in a random direction every time you get on the highway.
Except that you're guaranteed to at LEAST tear up a bit of the universe every time you start it up.
That's why there are several mystics near drift beacons whose full-time job is to repair the frayed threads of space and time caused by interstellar traffic.
Or at least, I imagine there could be.
Just read it.
Although my campaigns won't use the drift.
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I dunno... It just seems kind of evil to, you know, use an engine that slices up existence... Like, that next shred might be part of someone's liver, or a unique piece of art, or part of an engine that's keeping a star from exploding.
It's like driving a car that fires a bullet in a random direction every time you get on the highway.
Globally, Nearly 1.3 million people die in road crashes each year, on average 3,287 deaths a day.
An additional 20-50 million are injured or disabled.This is apparently socially acceptable in our society. (ASIRT)
The Drift seems similar in this way..
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Well, you tear up a bit of the planet every time you start up. Between mining for ores, drilling for oil, refining oil into gas, shipping, construction, road building and maintenance, and actually running the engine, that all takes a toll. Then there are all the deaths and injuries that are caused both in these processes and operation of the cars.
Some people are more concerned than others, but the Great Beyond is HUGE. For all you know the latest chunk to fall into the Drift was about to be gulped by the Maelstrom anyway.
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I wonder... if two or more ships are traveling in the same area and enter the drift.
1. Do they enter at the same place in the Drift regardless of destination?
2. If not do they enter at the same place in the Drift if they are heading to the same destination?
3. When traveling from point A to Point B in the Material Plane is the path through the Drift always the same?
Really, all the same question. What kind of atmosphere exists in the Drift... if the Emerald Spire for instance is floating through the drift, does it have gravity? Atmosphere?
Aren't at least some of the planes that are having bits torn off, ya know, infinite? You tear a little bit off of infinity, who's going to notice? ;)
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Ripping a scrap off of the Abyss... as if the qlippoths didn't already despise mortal life enough...