Could the Orb give us a few tidbits about how the magic warrior soldier specialization works?The "Arcane Assailant" soldier gains the ability to imbue their weapon with magic special abilities, eventually gaining access to more abilities (or 'weapon infusions', as they're called in Starfinder), the ability to enhance multiple weapons, or even ignore cover and concealment through supernatural means.
Sounds neat! Thanks!
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How in-depth are the rules of transferring Pathfinder monsters and characters to Starfinder?While the book goes to great lengths to cover as much as possible, the specifics are (necessarily) left mostly up to the GM. It does have some fairly specific suggestions for converting some class features, which could be used as a guideline for others.
Monsters can be converted to Starfinder almost effortlessly. In fact, most monsters should work in Starfinder with only a single small adjustment.
Simple follow up question: does it say anything about transferring races, such as the bulk of the pathfinder advanced race guide?
Only really need a yes or no; I'm really hoping to port Kitsune.
While it doesn't appear there's anything specifically for porting races, the way races work hasn't changed much. You should have no problem making Kitsune work in Starfinder.
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So since Level 6 is apparently max level of spells in Starfinder, does that mean that level 7-9 equivalents don't exist in Starfinder? Or did they become level 6 spells?
Kinda hoping its former because level 7-9 spells were absurdly powerful compared to all other classes' class feautres <_<
Is there a statement on whether Aucturn is a living organism now that science is more of a thing? :D
Also, is there any confirmed monster/race/faction/whatever that disappeared along with Golarion?
And finally, which god did Besmara depose?(really hoping it wasn't Lamashtu, that would be annoying for me)
How much info does each of the core gods get about them?
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Oh? Thats some delicious spoiler :D Does it say which one?
But yeah, so level 7-9 exists, but only available through limited access? That sounds good, I mean, I heard that originally in D&D's older editions 7-9 spells were meant as "super powerful scroll" spells, but Gygax gave them available to high level casters anyway because casters required ridiculous amount of exp to get to that high levels, so making them available in limited fashion is ok in my book since its closer to how they were intended to be.
Hmm, are there any info on old core gods that aren't part of core anymore and what happened to them?
What are some 7-9th level spells that casters can get limited access to? Other than Wish.
And thank god I will never have to hear anyone say "well if your dead theres no rule that says you cant take actions, so blah blah blah" in Starfinder rules discussions.
But they did mess up starship scales, which doesn't surprise me at all. Less dense than air starships aren't ideal. Unless you want them floating off the tarmac like a balloon. (Starship weight increases linearly with length in the scales, which is a big nono)
You know, I usually reconcile what usually amounts to "lighter than air" in apparent weight vs size ratios as instead being the weight you'd see if you put it on a scale, rather than its mass equivalence.
Or to put it another way, the weight recorded in the stat block is what you're left with after subtracting buoyancy. For example, if an object has a mass of 1,000Kg, but due to its size is 90% buoyant, it would instead be listed as 100Kg.
That's.... not how buoyancy works. All your proposition does is add a fixed amount of weight to the object (i.e density of air*volume). Which doesn't help objects that are small fractions of airs density (anything more than a factor of 2 makes it moot, and some of these we are talking factors of thousands.And thank god I will never have to hear anyone say "well if your dead theres no rule that says you cant take actions, so blah blah blah" in Starfinder rules discussions.
But they did mess up starship scales, which doesn't surprise me at all. Less dense than air starships aren't ideal. Unless you want them floating off the tarmac like a balloon. (Starship weight increases linearly with length in the scales, which is a big nono)
You know, I usually reconcile what usually amounts to "lighter than air" in apparent weight vs size ratios as instead being the weight you'd see if you put it on a scale, rather than its mass equivalence.
Or to put it another way, the weight recorded in the stat block is what you're left with after subtracting buoyancy. For example, if an object has a mass of 1,000Kg, but due to its size is 90% buoyant, it would instead be listed as 100Kg.
I'll put it another way... The way I see it, using the assumption that the weight is measured using the literal equivalent of bathroom scales... A true "lighter than air" ship like a blimp or zeppelin, is assumed to have a listed weight of "0kg". As would anything with neutral buoyancy.
Anything with a positive reading, is therefore heavier than air.
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Got to agree with Calth - length goes up with the cube root of mass (this is a first approximation and is good enough for anyone but an actual space agency).
Search for The Grand Resizing in David Weber's Honorverse for a good example of making exactly this mistake.
The only situation in which mass would increase linearly with length is if width and depth remain the same, and I doubt that all starships are cylinders of the same radius but different lengths. (See also: spherical chicken in a vacuum.)
What happened to Cayden Cailean and his clergy? Was he lost with Golarion or is he wandering somewhere in the cosmos?
EDIT: Also, air has mass. 1 cubic meter weights 1.3 kg (give or take).
Thanks for the info! That's good news for one of my characters.I'd love to know what Solarian ability DCs are based on!Charisma
F@!*! I was hoping it would be Wisdom >_>
Oh well can't have everything, thankies for answering as well!
Um, for those of us not Engineering inclined, what is wrong with the starship scales? Are they too light?
Still doesn't help all that much for ships to have a density of 1.001 fold of air, its still nonsensical. And inconsistent with the charts. They literally are linear for length and weight. That's not how buoyancy works either. They made a mistake, and its a little disappoint considering how much of a cliché that mistake is. Especially when Pathfinder avoids the cliché.I'll put it another way... The way I see it, using the assumption that the weight is measured using the literal equivalent of bathroom scales... A true "lighter than air" ship like a blimp or zeppelin, is assumed to have a listed weight of "0kg". As would anything with neutral buoyancy.
Anything with a positive reading, is therefore heavier than air.
Oh, right... I didn't catch the part of linear weight increases. This is one of those problems with the "square cubed rule" isn't it?
I was just focusing on the specific aspect of apparent weight, but if this is what we're talking about...
... Well, I can't say I can think of a viable reason for the size increase to be perfectly linear, but I can picture that as the size of a ship increases, its length to width/radius ratio will likely skew in favour of length. If not for practical reasons, then because that seems to be how scaling up of starships and regular ships seems to work in an aesthetic view.
The general ratio increases for each class up, probably would go something like (radius:Length) 1:2, then 2:6, then 4:16, and then 8:40.
But... This only mitigates the math I suppose, rather than fixes it. I think at that point one can only assume that as the size increases, they're probably using lighter materials, and larger amounts of the ship are literally empty space as the ship's size increases end up allotting most of the new size into cargo space... More specifically, the cargo hold, before you've put any cargo in there.
No idea if that solves anything... Probably not though.
Um, for those of us not Engineering inclined, what is wrong with the starship scales? Are they too light?
I've not checked Calth's maths, but assuming his above statement of linear mass increases by length, then WAY TOO LIGHT.
A ship twice as long should be (roughly) 8 times as massive to maintain structure and density. Much less than that and it would fall apart.
I can't remember the actual realistic starship density figure (it's pretty low because of all the open space inside), but if you calculate a starship density lower than that of air, then the air inside is too thin to breathe.
Hmm, okies, thankies!
Maybe super tech/magic took care of that issue?
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What happened to Cayden Cailean and his clergy? Was he lost with Golarion or is he wandering somewhere in the cosmos?
There is no mention of Cayden Cailean in the book. At least none apparent to The Orb.
As for the ship scaling, 2 things should be kept in mind. Ships don't scale at the same rate in every dimension, and they are also mostly hollow. The hull of a larger ship isn't necessarily proportionally thicker than that of a smaller ship.
Edit: And we also don't know that minimum and maximum length on the table correspond directly to minimum and maximum weight.
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Hmm, okies, thankies!
Maybe super tech/magic took care of that issue?
Super-tech/magic can definitely help, but a less-dense-than-air ship can't enter atmosphere. It WILL float up. And get squashed if you force it deeper, because pressure does unpleasant things to tin cans.
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Super-tech/magic can definitely help, but a less-dense-than-air ship can't enter atmosphere. It WILL float up. And get squashed if you force it deeper, because pressure does unpleasant things to tin cans.Hmm, okies, thankies!
Maybe super tech/magic took care of that issue?
If The Orb were to take a guess, the weight of a starship doesn't include its on-board atmosphere.
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What happened to Cayden Cailean and his clergy? Was he lost with Golarion or is he wandering somewhere in the cosmos?There is no mention of Cayden Cailean in the book. At least none apparent to The Orb.
As for the ship scaling, 2 things need to be kept in mind. Ships don't scale at the same rate in every dimension, and they are also mostly hollow. The hull of a larger ship isn't necessarily proportionally thicker than that of a smaller ship.
Edit: And we also don't know that minimum and maximum length on the table correspond directly to minimum and maximum weight.
They aren't that hollow.
Shirren ships look like big balloons. I don't think we can say with certainty how hollow these completely fictional high-tech vehicles are.
The Orb is not denying that the tables may be in error, but is instead bound by the ancient Oracular Law to play devil's advocate.
That said, the discussion of ship density might be better served on its own thread.
Are the "big" higher level spells still around? Teleport, plane shift, haste, scrying?
Is there a technological way to plane shift (aside from drift drives, which I gather simply go into the drift and then back to the material plane)?
Are there single-pilot fighter craft in the game?
Teleport, Plane Shift, and Haste are all in the core rules. There are effects like scrying, thought there's no spell by that name.
The Orb does not see any technological means to plane-shift.
There are single-pilot air vehicles, as well as single-pilot spacecraft.
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What's your favorite planet so far?
What could you tell us about Triaxus' weather/current season and wars against the true dragons?
Did the Wanderer remain as a planet with a big population of true dragons?
Havent gotten to actually reading the section yet, but a quick check doesn't indicate a specific season, just their existence, which makes sense. The war is more cold war now, very Shadowrun-esqe if you are familiar with that setting (dragons using wealth rather than raw physical/magical strength for power).
Triaxus is currently in its winter stage.
Thank you very much for this. :)
One thing that doesn't get addressed as frequently in fantasy as it does in science fiction is fashion; does the core book make any mention of it? If so, is it done in a general sense, on a race-by-race basis, or according to region? (IE "Ysoki wear loose-fitting clothing." vs. "On Absalom Station, it's considered gauche to wear body armor.") Just curious since with Pathfinder, it made a lot more sense to divide it up along racial lines than it does in a multi-racial society like that present in Starfinder.
As for the ship scaling, 2 things should be kept in mind. Ships don't scale at the same rate in every dimension, and they are also mostly hollow. The hull of a larger ship isn't necessarily proportionally thicker than that of a smaller ship.
Hence me referencing the spherical chicken in a vacuum. (For anyone not up on physics "jokes", there's a HUGE amount of complex physics that's been worked out, but it uses the simplified case of "spherical object in a vacuum", and is exponentially harder to work out even for the simple case of "rotating spherical object in a vacuum", let alone "spaceship-shaped object in a star system within measurable gravitational fields" - there's a silly joke about how a physicist works something out about a chicken, but it only works for a spherical chicken in a vacuum.)
Anyway, silly explanations aside, if a ship is twice as tall, it will have twice as many floors and walls, twice as much air, etc. That is true in all 3 dimensions, and that's where cubing works (as a first approximation). The more accurate version is that the mass increases by the product of the cube-roots of the increase in proportion of all three dimensions.
I could probably go on about this sort of stuff for way too long, so I'll just leave it with the statement that if mass increases linearly with length, then height and width cannot increase, so bigger spaceships will be very long and thin compared to small ones.
Oh yes, thank you kindly for all this insight, spherical one!
Uh let's see, what else ... ah! In what manner(s) do mechanic drones scale and upgrade as the mechanic gains levels? Do they become more complex and lifelike, do they become bigger or smaller (depending on the drone type)?
Also, are there specific drone weapons or could one just duct-tape regular weapons onto a drone and call it a day?
Thank you very much for this. :)
One thing that doesn't get addressed as frequently in fantasy as it does in science fiction is fashion; does the core book make any mention of it? If so, is it done in a general sense, on a race-by-race basis, or according to region? (IE "Ysoki wear loose-fitting clothing." vs. "On Absalom Station, it's considered gauche to wear body armor.") Just curious since with Pathfinder, it made a lot more sense to divide it up along racial lines than it does in a multi-racial society like that present in Starfinder.
There is some discussion of fashion, yes. It's fairly general, and spread throughout the book. There's a brief mention of what sort of styles are considered "fashionable" in the pact worlds, though not a whole lot of detail.
Are the "big" higher level spells still around? Teleport, plane shift, haste, scrying?
Is there a technological way to plane shift (aside from drift drives, which I gather simply go into the drift and then back to the material plane)?
Are there single-pilot fighter craft in the game?
Teleport, Plane Shift, and Haste are all in the core rules. There are effects like scrying, thought there's no spell by that name.
The Orb does not see any technological means to plane-shift.
There are single-pilot air vehicles, as well as single-pilot spacecraft.
I'm sure its a long shot, but would Create Demi-Plane be in there?
I'm guessing not, but it would make for a nice place for a space ship hanger and "Bat Cave" if it was in there.
Monsters can be converted to Starfinder almost effortlessly. In fact, most monsters should work in Starfinder with only a single small adjustment.
Would that single small adjustment be the conversion of AC to KAC and EAC? If that's the case, then the barrier to conversion is extremely low and whoever at Paizo managed to balance that should be proud and just a touch smug.
Oh, and thank you, your orbiness, for taking the time to inform us unlucky plebs so thoroughly.
Oh yes, thank you kindly for all this insight, spherical one!
Uh let's see, what else ... ah! In what manner(s) do mechanic drones scale and upgrade as the mechanic gains levels? Do they become more complex and lifelike, do they become bigger or smaller (depending on the drone type)?
Also, are there specific drone weapons or could one just duct-tape regular weapons onto a drone and call it a day?
A drone is much like an animal companion, with its own saves and base attack bonus. They don't appear to change size (though their size depends on type), but gain "mods" as the mechanic gains levels. These "mods" aren't entirely unlike an eidolons evolutions.
There don't appear to be drone specific weapons, you'll be just fine with your duct-tape and a laser pistol.
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Monsters can be converted to Starfinder almost effortlessly. In fact, most monsters should work in Starfinder with only a single small adjustment.Would that single small adjustment be the conversion of AC to KAC and EAC? If that's the case, then the barrier to conversion is extremely low and whoever at Paizo managed to balance that should be proud and just a touch smug.
Oh, and thank you, your orbiness, for taking the time to inform us unlucky plebs so thoroughly.
You would be correct. There are a few other conversions that can be done (due to the different action economy in Starfinder), but they won't be necessary for most monsters.
Your thanks is greatly appreciated, The Orb feeds off of excitement and gratitude. And occasionally gyros.
Are the "big" higher level spells still around? Teleport, plane shift, haste, scrying?
Is there a technological way to plane shift (aside from drift drives, which I gather simply go into the drift and then back to the material plane)?
Are there single-pilot fighter craft in the game?
Teleport, Plane Shift, and Haste are all in the core rules. There are effects like scrying, thought there's no spell by that name.
The Orb does not see any technological means to plane-shift.
There are single-pilot air vehicles, as well as single-pilot spacecraft.
I'm sure its a long shot, but would Create Demi-Plane be in there?
I'm guessing not, but it would make for a nice place for a space ship hanger and "Bat Cave" if it was in there.
Create Demi-plane (and anything like it) appears absent from the core rules. Perhaps in a future volume.
Friend was hoping that monowhips made it over from the tech guide. Are they in?
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Friend was hoping that monowhips made it over from the tech guide. Are they in?Yes
Thanks! My friend will be pretty pleased to hear that.
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Are the starship rules less complicated than GURPS? I saw people talking about cube roots above and started thinking about GURPS Vehicles again. <shudder>
If the system flows well I can live with handwaving away parts of physics. This is still a fantasy game at its heart.
Please, tell me of Apostae. Is it now inhabited by smurfs? Has anyone managed to get inside?
Are the starship rules less complicated than GURPS? I saw people talking about cube roots above and started thinking about GURPS Vehicles again. <shudder>
If the system flows well I can live with handwaving away parts of physics. This is still a fantasy game at its heart.
Do not fear. That's just me being over-nerdy. It's a technical discussion on verisimilitude, not how the rules work.