Get a Glimpse of The Stars The All-Seeing Orb


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Scarab Sages

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Steven "Troll" O'Neal wrote:
Are there plasma weapons of a sword-like variety?

There are five different plasma swords under one handed advanced melee weapons. They have a level ranging from 9 to 20, and all have the severe wound critical effect, which in true Star Wars fashion, can sever a limb.

Liberty's Edge

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Mark Seifter wrote:
Oddly because of the composition of my playtest group, we had three physics PhDs playing it, so I got to take some really nitty gritty physics comments back to the main Star Council like "The solarian's black hole ability should...<insert some sort of catastrophic event> whenever he used it."

Starfinder Physics Unchained: Spring 2019!


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Imbicatus wrote:
Steven "Troll" O'Neal wrote:
Are there plasma weapons of a sword-like variety?
There are five different plasma swords under one handed advanced melee weapons. They have a level ranging from 9 to 20, and all have the severe wound critical effect, which in true Star Wars fashion, can sever a limb.

Excellent, my phrenic adept human ace pilot mechanic NPC is most pleased.


Steven "Troll" O'Neal wrote:
Imbicatus wrote:
Steven "Troll" O'Neal wrote:
Are there plasma weapons of a sword-like variety?
There are five different plasma swords under one handed advanced melee weapons. They have a level ranging from 9 to 20, and all have the severe wound critical effect, which in true Star Wars fashion, can sever a limb.
Excellent, my phrenic adept human ace pilot mechanic NPC is most pleased.

I'm honestly not too impressed by Phrenic adept.

Scarab Sages

IonutRO wrote:
Steven "Troll" O'Neal wrote:
Imbicatus wrote:
Steven "Troll" O'Neal wrote:
Are there plasma weapons of a sword-like variety?
There are five different plasma swords under one handed advanced melee weapons. They have a level ranging from 9 to 20, and all have the severe wound critical effect, which in true Star Wars fashion, can sever a limb.
Excellent, my phrenic adept human ace pilot mechanic NPC is most pleased.
I'm honestly not too impressed by Phrenic adept.

Agreed. Most of the abilities seem pretty underwhelming when compared to class abilities you could be gaining.


Are the psychic feats any better?

Scarab Sages

Haven't read the feats chapter yet


Yeah, probably. Might just do a multiclass.


Imbicatus wrote:
IonutRO wrote:
I'm honestly not too impressed by Phrenic adept.
Agreed. Most of the abilities seem pretty underwhelming when compared to class abilities you could be gaining.

What about the Phrenic Adept (in general terms) seems underwhelming? What kind of character concept do you think might make the most use out of it anyhow? Is it obviously better for some classes than others?

Speaking of archetypes, how does the Starfinder Forerunner look? We already know it only replaces abilities at 2nd, 4th, and 6th. Does it look useful for low-level characters?

I am, in general, really interested to see how the new archetype system plays out.

Liberty's Edge

Is ship-to-ground combat mapped out at all? Can you have someone flying around in a fighter providing air support to people on the ground?


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Mark Seifter wrote:
I'm not sure what went on with the starship weight scale (that was from when I was back on Pathfinder I think), but I can tell you that Sutter pulled me over to the planets to run F=G*m1*m2/r^2 for all of the planets that didn't either have artificial gravity or a really weird shape or substance that altered gravity. And space now correctly doesn't conduct heat so you don't take cold damage even though it's cold out there! So a little more of the science is right when it didn't interfere with gameplay and such. Oddly because of the composition of my playtest group, we had three physics PhDs playing it, so I got to take some really nitty gritty physics comments back to the main Star Council like "The solarian's black hole ability should...<insert some sort of catastrophic event> whenever he used it."

My degree is in planetary and space physics (granted, 20-year-old planetary and space physics), so I am all over that stuff...

Please tell me someone did T^2 = k(a^3/M1) where k = 2*pi/G for orbital periods...

Scarab Sages

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Jimbles the Mediocre wrote:
Imbicatus wrote:
IonutRO wrote:
I'm honestly not too impressed by Phrenic adept.
Agreed. Most of the abilities seem pretty underwhelming when compared to class abilities you could be gaining.

What about the Phrenic Adept (in general terms) seems underwhelming? What kind of character concept do you think might make the most use out of it anyhow? Is it obviously better for some classes than others?

Speaking of archetypes, how does the Starfinder Forerunner look? We already know it only replaces abilities at 2nd, 4th, and 6th. Does it look useful for low-level characters?

I am, in general, really interested to see how the new archetype system plays out.

Most of that requires going into more detail than I'm comfortable with until the street date is here.

Basically, the Phrenic Adept gives up a big chunk of your class to gain some daily slas, limited telepathy, and some abilities that cost resolve. I think it would be good if you're multitasking, because the level 2 ability is pretty good, and if you were just dipping soldier for example, the bonus feat at 2 might be worth it.

The starfinder Forerunner is pretty good overall though. The abilities are useful, have great out of combat utility, and only goes to level 6 so you aren't giving up much to take it.

Designer

Chemlak wrote:
Mark Seifter wrote:
I'm not sure what went on with the starship weight scale (that was from when I was back on Pathfinder I think), but I can tell you that Sutter pulled me over to the planets to run F=G*m1*m2/r^2 for all of the planets that didn't either have artificial gravity or a really weird shape or substance that altered gravity. And space now correctly doesn't conduct heat so you don't take cold damage even though it's cold out there! So a little more of the science is right when it didn't interfere with gameplay and such. Oddly because of the composition of my playtest group, we had three physics PhDs playing it, so I got to take some really nitty gritty physics comments back to the main Star Council like "The solarian's black hole ability should...<insert some sort of catastrophic event> whenever he used it."

My degree is in planetary and space physics (granted, 20-year-old planetary and space physics), so I am all over that stuff...

Please tell me someone did T^2 = k(a^3/M1) where k = 2*pi/G for orbital periods...

There wasn't really any Kepler's Thirding going around, mainly because the only star system really close to having even a relative value for 'a' in terms of a diagram of distances from the sun is the Pact Worlds, and those already had a listed 'T' from Distant Worlds.

Liberty's Edge

I wonder if anyone's done the math yet to derive distance from Golarion's sun based on the published orbital periods. If not, something to do over the weekend, I guess.


OOoh.. Reptoids... I hope they mention Greys too...

The All-Seeing Orb wrote:
Axial wrote:
What the heck are the "Unseen"?
Not a specific faction, but a catch-all term for "unseen" threats like shape-shifting Reptoids or interdimensional manipulators.


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Cthulhusquatch wrote:

OOoh.. Reptoids... I hope they mention Greys too...

The All-Seeing Orb wrote:
Axial wrote:
What the heck are the "Unseen"?
Not a specific faction, but a catch-all term for "unseen" threats like shape-shifting Reptoids or interdimensional manipulators.

Well, there's art of one on that page... so I think we can count on Greys.


When did you get a smurf avatar?

Steven "Troll" O'Neal wrote:

Please, tell me of Apostae. Is it now inhabited by smurfs? Has anyone managed to get inside?

Sovereign Court

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Starfinder Society Subscriber
Cthulhusquatch wrote:

When did you get a smurf avatar?

Steven "Troll" O'Neal wrote:

Please, tell me of Apostae. Is it now inhabited by smurfs? Has anyone managed to get inside?

You, too?


How many page(s) of information is given for each faction?

Are there images of space Hellknights in the book.

Is there any information about various Hellknight Orders in the book, or is there just a general overview of what the Hellknights are.


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Michael7123 wrote:

How many page(s) of information is given for each faction?

Are there images of space Hellknights in the book.

Is there any information about various Hellknight Orders in the book, or is there just a general overview of what the Hellknights are.

There is one page per faction, and hellnights list 7 major orders in and around the Pact world, though it mentions lesser orders that operate in their shadows.

Edit: yes, there is a deliciously cool picture of a Hellknight :)


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Is Red Mantis still around? Also, how many Vast planets are described in the CRB, roughly? An earlier interview mentioned a prison planet.


Is it normal for people to walk around in public with weapons as it is was on Golarion? Or the Old West? Or modern day Texas?


What makes the Thief, Ghost, & Spy specializations different from each other? seems like they would all have very similar abilities.

What makes the Blitz and Hit & Run fighting styles different? they also seem like they would be very similar.

Can you share some details on the Mechanic's Exocortex?

what are some examples of the Operative's Exploits?


Pax Rafkin wrote:
Is it normal for people to walk around in public with weapons as it is was on Golarion? Or the Old West? Or modern day Texas?

They mentioned that it's perfectly normal to wear your armor anywhere on Absalom Station, since your armor is also your environmental suit. That said, it's probably considered a tad gauche to carry a heavy railgun into the mayoral mansion.


ccaruana wrote:
Michael7123 wrote:

How many page(s) of information is given for each faction?

Are there images of space Hellknights in the book.

Is there any information about various Hellknight Orders in the book, or is there just a general overview of what the Hellknights are.

There is one page per faction, and hellnights list 7 major orders in and around the Pact world, though it mentions lesser orders that operate in their shadows.

Edit: yes, there is a deliciously cool picture of a Hellknight :)

Are the 7 major orders the same as they were in regular pathfinder (Chain, Gate, Godclaw, Nail, Pyre, Scourge, Rack)? If not, what are the new orders

Pax Rafkin wrote:
Is it normal for people to walk around in public with weapons as it is was on Golarion? Or the Old West? Or modern day Texas?

Not from the book, but I watched one of the starfinder playtest livestreams GM'ed by Owen. As far as Absolom station goes, he said that essentially people were okay with you openly carrying a weapon- it's when you start taking it out/turning it on and pointing it at other people that they start to have a problem with you.


What are the slower than light, non-drift spacecraft propulsion systems like? Reactionless? Gravity well creating/telekinetic? Bad ass anti-matter rockets?

How long does it take to travel between the pact worlds if you are not using the drift?

Is there faster than light, ansible style communication? If so, how long do messages take to travel from a world in the vast to one of the pact worlds?


Calth wrote:
I would say I'm a little disappointed at first glance at how core fightery the soldier seems to be. It may be mitigated in practice through themes and such, but the class itself is 100% combat zero out of combat utility.

That sounds profoundly unfortunate, especially since the preview seemed to imply otherwise.


Hmm... I wonder what exactly the Daredevil specialization of Operatives does.

That, and wondering which specialization one would be the most straightforward combat focused. Or failing that, the least sneaky or subtle.


Luna Protege wrote:

Hmm... I wonder what exactly the Daredevil specialization of Operatives does.

That, and wondering which specialization one would be the most straightforward combat focused. Or failing that, the least sneaky or subtle.

Total speculation on my part, maybe the least subtle is the daredevil specialization. Perhaps it's designed for close range, high risk high reward combat and a more "guns blazing" style of play that can backfire if handled portly.


KingOfAnything wrote:
Cthulhusquatch wrote:

When did you get a smurf avatar?

Steven "Troll" O'Neal wrote:

Please, tell me of Apostae. Is it now inhabited by smurfs? Has anyone managed to get inside?

You, too?

Speak of the blues ones, and they shall appear. I figured it would get attention to my question.


DrSwordopolis wrote:
Is ship-to-ground combat mapped out at all? Can you have someone flying around in a fighter providing air support to people on the ground?

Covered that a bit earlier but ship to PC combat is not really doable or mapped out. 1 ship damage is hundreds if not thousands of PC damage. (Tactical nukes do 5d8 ship damage).

Starship scaling overall is pretty gamey. As in it's obviously scaled to be a smooth power curve on with a fairly low cap than what a real world scaling would be. Which is fine, but trying to convert damage scales to real terms isn't going to yield realistic values. A damage range of 1 to 400 just doesn't really cover fighter to dreadnaught scaling. (Or in other words damage only goes up by a factor of 10 while mass goes up by a factor of what should be at least a million.)


Is there an actual star map in the SF CRB?
Something showing the whole galaxy?


So how much is ship combat reliant on using maps and minis(or pawns...or pennies, etc)?


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Bullo Dagmawi wrote:

Is there an actual star map in the SF CRB?

Something showing the whole galaxy?

Just the system map we already saw I think.


John Kretzer wrote:
So how much is ship combat reliant on using maps and minis(or pawns...or pennies, etc)?

Pretty reliant. You could handwave it but it would be at least as hard as handwaving PC combat.


Pathfinder Lost Omens Subscriber

Can your Drone communicate meaningfully with you like an Eidolon, or is it of animal companion levels of intelligence?

I have my fingers crossed for wisecracking sidekick droid.


I have two questions about androids:

First, are all androids medium size, or do they have a note about making some small a la Aasimar in Pathfinder? Or, to put it less succinctly, are any androids built to non-human specifications? (Modeled after other races, I mean.)

Second, does initiating Renewal restore an android to "factory default," or do some androids come into being with sick cybernetics and others with missing pieces and a hankering for street drugs? Bad enough an android could get stuck somewhere, go mad, get locked into a perpetual cycle of rebirth and descending into madness.

Thank you. :)


Wikrin wrote:

I have two questions about androids:

First, are all androids medium size, or do they have a note about making some small a la Aasimar in Pathfinder? Or, to put it less succinctly, are any androids built to non-human specifications? (Modeled after other races, I mean.)

Second, does initiating Renewal restore an android to "factory default," or do some androids come into being with sick cybernetics and others with missing pieces and a hankering for street drugs? Bad enough an android could get stuck somewhere, go mad, get locked into a perpetual cycle of rebirth and descending into madness.

Thank you. :)

There is brief mention of androids built to resemble non-humanoids, though nothing for non-medium androids. Should be pretty easy to houserule though.

There's not much information on what exactly happens when an Android undergoes renewal, but you could look at Iseph's story for some ideas of how things can work.


What are the differences between PathFinder haste and starfinder haste?

Please and thank you!


Steven "Troll" O'Neal wrote:
KingOfAnything wrote:
Cthulhusquatch wrote:

When did you get a REDACTED avatar?

Steven "Troll" O'Neal wrote:

Please, tell me of Apostae. Is it now inhabited by REDACTED? Has anyone managed to get inside?

You, too?
Speak of the blues ones, and they shall appear. I figured it would get attention to my question.

Apostae is still around, it's been settled by the Drow of all things.


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space master7 wrote:

What are the differences between PathFinder haste and starfinder haste?

Please and thank you!

Starfinder's haste allows you to move and full attack, but does not grant extra attacks, attack bonuses, AC bonuses, or reflex save bonuses. Starfinder haste still increases your speed, though.

Remember that full attacks in Starfinder are very different than those in Pathfinder. Getting an extra attack would be even more impactful in Starfinder due to the way damage scales, so it's a pretty rare ability.


The All-Seeing Orb wrote:
space master7 wrote:

What are the differences between PathFinder haste and starfinder haste?

Please and thank you!

Starfinder's haste allows you to move and full attack, but does not grant extra attacks, attack bonuses, AC bonuses, or reflex save bonuses. Starfinder haste still increases your speed, though.

Remember that full attacks in Starfinder are very different than those in Pathfinder. Getting an extra attack would be even more impactful in Starfinder due to the way damage scales, so it's a pretty rare ability.

So basically pounce with a speed bonus? :D I like it.


StygianRose wrote:

Can your Drone communicate meaningfully with you like an Eidolon, or is it of animal companion levels of intelligence?

I have my fingers crossed for wisecracking sidekick droid.

Exactly how meaningfully the Drone can communicate is probably up to you and your GM, but they can speak and have intelligence more akin to an eidolon than an animal companion.


S. J. Digriz wrote:

What are the slower than light, non-drift spacecraft propulsion systems like? Reactionless? Gravity well creating/telekinetic? Bad ass anti-matter rockets?

How long does it take to travel between the pact worlds if you are not using the drift?

Is there faster than light, ansible style communication? If so, how long do messages take to travel from a world in the vast to one of the pact worlds?

Not much information on slower than light travel, or at least none immediately apparent.

Faster than light communication is possible through the drift, but takes about the same time as sending a starship (a matter of days or weeks). For this reason, physical missions are still the preferred way to conduct interstellar diplomacy.


Voss wrote:
Calth wrote:
I would say I'm a little disappointed at first glance at how core fightery the soldier seems to be. It may be mitigated in practice through themes and such, but the class itself is 100% combat zero out of combat utility.
That sounds profoundly unfortunate, especially since the preview seemed to imply otherwise.

Due to the abundance of skill ranks, diversity of technological gear, and combat that doesn't require too many feats to be competitive, it's not hard for any class to pick up out-of-combat utility abilities. A Starfinder feat is probably worth a lot more than a Pathfinder feat, and most good feats don't require a pile of prerequisites.

The Soldier fairly effortlessly excels at combat, allowing them to branch out into other things via feat and gear choices. Building a character who's useful in and out of combat appears to not only be easy in Starfinder, but an optimal choice.


SquishyPoetFromBeyondTheStars wrote:

What makes the Thief, Ghost, & Spy specializations different from each other? seems like they would all have very similar abilities.

What makes the Blitz and Hit & Run fighting styles different? they also seem like they would be very similar.

Can you share some details on the Mechanic's Exocortex?

what are some examples of the Operative's Exploits?

Thief is focused on stealing and escaping. Ghost is all about stealth and covert movement. Spy is a social specialization, more about disguises and infiltration.

Blitz is highly mobile and highly aggressive, with a distinct melee focus. Hit & Run favors careful tactical movement and attacks at a variety of ranges.

The Exocortex turns you into more of a martial class, incorporating some of the drone abilities into your own body.

One interesting (though high level) Operative exploit allows you to gain the benefits of true seeing for 1 round through extraordinary (rather than supernatural) means.


Michael7123 wrote:
Luna Protege wrote:

Hmm... I wonder what exactly the Daredevil specialization of Operatives does.

That, and wondering which specialization one would be the most straightforward combat focused. Or failing that, the least sneaky or subtle.

Total speculation on my part, maybe the least subtle is the daredevil specialization. Perhaps it's designed for close range, high risk high reward combat and a more "guns blazing" style of play that can backfire if handled portly.

Daredevil Operatives are less about sneaking and trickery, and more about acrobatics and athleticism. If you're the kind of Operative to fight your foes on the back of a moving train (or hovercraft), you're probably a Daredevil.


Opsylum wrote:
Is Red Mantis still around? Also, how many Vast planets are described in the CRB, roughly? An earlier interview mentioned a prison planet.

The Orb has seen no mention of the Red Mantis, though they could still be around. You never know with Achaekek.

With a quick count, there appear to be 7 Vast planets described. The prison planet is in Near Space, and is called Daegox 4.


Michael7123 wrote:

How many page(s) of information is given for each faction?

Are there images of space Hellknights in the book.

Is there any information about various Hellknight Orders in the book, or is there just a general overview of what the Hellknights are.

There are images of space Hellknights. One even has 4 arms. How peculiar!

Seven Hellknight Orders are listed, though it's implied there are others. No real information beyond Order names is given.


The All-Seeing Orb wrote:
Michael7123 wrote:
Luna Protege wrote:

Hmm... I wonder what exactly the Daredevil specialization of Operatives does.

That, and wondering which specialization one would be the most straightforward combat focused. Or failing that, the least sneaky or subtle.

Total speculation on my part, maybe the least subtle is the daredevil specialization. Perhaps it's designed for close range, high risk high reward combat and a more "guns blazing" style of play that can backfire if handled portly.

Daredevil Operatives are less about sneaking and trickery, and more about acrobatics and athleticism. If you're the kind of Operative to fight your foes on the back of a moving train (or hovercraft), you're probably a Daredevil.

Marvel without the blindness.

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