Personal Force Fields


General Discussion


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I'm looking at the Armor add-ons and Force Shields seem to be rather underwhelming.

Brown Shield (3rd Level)
Capacity:10 TempHP:1 FastHealing:1

So, what it looks like to me is by the time most PCs have 22hp and 18Stamina, for a total of 40damage soaking, one time per round, for up to 10 different rounds, you get to soak 1hp.

(I'm assuming this is what Capacity is used for. I can't quite tell if I'm right, since I'm assuming the Capacity effect. Or does capacity work like Melee weapons in that 1 Cap is generally for 1 minute of operation?)

Is this how everyone else reads it?


It's mentioned that the capacity for all force field is one charge per round, regardless of if you're hit or not that round. So a Brown Shield is a bit underwhelming, yeah. But keep in mind that at the level that you receive it at, and the way action economy works in Starfinder, you're essentially receiving DR 1/- for 10 rounds as a standard action. It's not too pricey either - 1,600 credits seems to be more or less equivalent to 160 PF gold.

It reminds me of the flawed or cracked Ioun Stones - very minor bonuses that are cheap, and may not be worth it, but are there if you really want them.

All that said, the higher level Force Fields seem exceptionally good - even as early as a Black Force Field allows for some substantial survivability if used right.

Think of it more like a spell-like ability that you flip on for a minor effect of temp HP with fast healing to boot. I wouldn't use it in every fight maybe, but I'd certainly appreciate having it when my party's in a rough spot.


gigyas6 wrote:
But keep in mind that at the level that you receive it at, and the way action economy works in Starfinder, you're essentially receiving DR 1/- for 10 rounds as a standard action.

Well not _quite_ DR 1/-, since it only affects one attack per round.


Again, with the action economy here, you're liable to only take one attack per round unless you have multiple enemies on you. At third level, that's possible, but less likely. You don't necessarily have to worry about crazy multi-attacking as much.

So, effectively, on average, I can see it coming up to about DR/1- (Edit: you're right, stastically, maybe not quite, but roundabouts that). By the time it stops being so, it'd probably stop being useful altogether as compared to other force fields that would then be available, or other upgrades in general.

Additionally, keep in mind that DR only applies to kinetic weapons. Despite the description for Force Fields implying they don't block lasers, Force Fields otherwise seem to reduce damage taken from *anything* - energy weapons, spells, or what have you. It's temporary hit points, so as RAW, it would also block damage from mental attacks (although logically your GM would probably do normal damage to you anyway).

Silver Crusade

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Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Also even a 1 point forcefield makes you effectively immune to attacks from incorporeal sources.


DM_aka_Dudemeister wrote:
Also even a 1 point forcefield makes you effectively immune to attacks from incorporeal sources.

I don't think that is true, considering the effect is not a force effect, but a Bonus HP effect. On the other hand, I have yet to see incorporeal monsters stated up in Starfinder, along with their rules.


Shain Edge wrote:
DM_aka_Dudemeister wrote:
Also even a 1 point forcefield makes you effectively immune to attacks from incorporeal sources.
I don't think that is true, considering the effect is not a force effect, but a Bonus HP effect. On the other hand, I have yet to see incorporeal monsters stated up in Starfinder, along with their rules.

That said, force fields as written up in the Core do seem to block a lot of things (scrying, the phasing ability of Ghost operatives, etc.), so I'm hopeful that they would count as force effects for purposes of dealing with incorporeal creatures too!

Silver Crusade

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Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
Shain Edge wrote:
DM_aka_Dudemeister wrote:
Also even a 1 point forcefield makes you effectively immune to attacks from incorporeal sources.
I don't think that is true, considering the effect is not a force effect, but a Bonus HP effect. On the other hand, I have yet to see incorporeal monsters stated up in Starfinder, along with their rules.

Check out Book 1 of the Dead Suns AP.


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DM_aka_Dudemeister wrote:
Shain Edge wrote:
DM_aka_Dudemeister wrote:
Also even a 1 point forcefield makes you effectively immune to attacks from incorporeal sources.
I don't think that is true, considering the effect is not a force effect, but a Bonus HP effect. On the other hand, I have yet to see incorporeal monsters stated up in Starfinder, along with their rules.
Check out Book 1 of the Dead Suns AP.

Ah ha! That certainly solves the question!

Dead Suns Book 1 Page 58 wrote:
A *redacted* can’t phase through force effects such as force fields.

(I redacted the creature's name - the rest of the sentence is verbatim. I wish that language was in the core rules, but if nothing else, at least it's official!)

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