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First off, I really don't want this thread to cross the line by posting too many rules so please limit quotes from the CRB and keep things general.
If you haven't read it, check out this blog post about some rules differences.
Also, this post might have specific answers to your questions already.
I've been making a cheat sheet to help me convince some long-time Pathfinders to switch over to Starfinder, and I figure my observations (or at least codifying them) might be of interest to others.
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Character Creation/Stats
Carrying Capacity: Simplified. Rather than STR determining how many pounds/kg of gear you can carry, your STR score is the amount of bulk you can carry. Each item is either negligible, light (1/10 bulk), or has a bulk score. You can carry up to half your STR score without penalty.
Point Buy: Standard is 10 points, Costs are 1:1, and they are applied after racial and theme modifiers. No score can be over 18 at 1st level. Dropping scores below 10 does not get you more points to spend.
Ability Scores with Leveling Up: Starting at 5th level (instead of 4th), you get to increase multiple ability scores. Abilities that are already high get less of an increase.
Hit Points: Are a fixed amount (no die roll) determined by your race (at first level) plus your class (at every level) and is not influenced by your CON.
Stamina Points: Are a fixed amount (no die roll) determined by your class and your CON score. You can't gain negative SP each level, but you can get none if your CON is low enough.
Temporary Hit Points: Are still lost first, even before Stamina Points.
Resolve Points: You have half your character level plus your key ability score modifier (determined by class). Resolve is used for a wide variety of class skills, to regain stamina points during a short rest, and to auto-stabilize.
Alignment: Stayed the same, but the descriptions are nice.
Retraining: There's an item that does this now, but you can only use it a few times in your character's life and it only retrains a set number of levels worth of decisions.
Character Themes: Every character picks one. They're not limited by class or race (at least the ones in the CRB). At first level they provide a small ability score boost and a skill bonus. A few times throughout your character's progression, they will provide a new, usually non-combat, ability.
Races: Humans are the same. Other races are in line with PF. There are no alternate racial traits yet.
Classes: Every class has light armor, basic melee, and small arms proficiencies. All the classes are highly modular, very well balanced, and very flavorful. Spellcasting is limited to 6th level.
Weapon Specialization: Every class gets this feat for free early in their career. It applies to all class granted weapon proficiencies, and the bonus scales with your class level.
Archetypes: There are two in the book. They are not class specific. The modularity of the classes enables either archetype to apply to any class. Each class you take levels in can have 1 (and only 1) archetype applied to it. You cannot apply the same archetype to multiple classes. The CRB notes that some archetypes (presumably released in other books) may be limited to specific classes.
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Skills
Skill Ranks: Minimum 1 per level. All the classes have a base of at least 4.
Skills:
Acrobatics includes Escape Artist and Fly
Athletics covers Climb and Swim and the jump portion of Acrobatics
Computers covers computers... and a lot of what Disable Device used to do in a non-technological setting. It also includes some Craft applications and a little Linguistics
Culture kinda replaced Knowledge (History, Local, Nobility, and Religion) and some Linguistics. This is the skill that gets you languages.
Diplomacy now has scaling DCs!
Engineering replaced some Craft skills, some Disable Device, and Knowledge (Architecture & Engineering and Dungeoneering). It also covers Explosives, but not the same way it did in SWRPG.
Life Science replaced some Craft skills, some application of Heal, and some of Knowledge (Dungeoneering, Local, and Nature)
Medicine replaced Heal and the Treat Deadly Wounds application only takes 1 minute!
Mysticism replaced some Craft skills, Disable Device applications, Knowledge (Arcana, Nature, the Planes, and Religion), and Spellcraft. It also replaces the Item Creation feats
Physical Science replaced some Craft skills and Knowledge (Dungeoneering and Geography)
Piloting is a new skill and has obvious uses
Survival includes Handle Animal and Ride now
There's a few other skills with the same name and use as PF, though some DCs are different.
Feats
Feats: Read them all. Even the ones with the same names are possibly different. For example, there is no Power Attack, but the new Deadly Aim feat does the same basic thing for any weapon attack (penalty to hit for bonus damage). Far Shot does exactly what it does in PF, but Improved Critical is completely different. Read them all.
Gear
Equipment: There are tech items, magic items, regular gear, and hybrid (magic + tech) gear.
Weapon enchantments can be modular.
Implants take up "slots" like magic items, but from a different pool.
Items have a "level" now which impacts skill DCs to craft or affect them, which items it's assumed players have access to (character level +1 or +2 depending on settlement size), and general power level of the item.
Standard weapons are sized for Small and Medium creatures, not or.
Changing how many hands you hold a weapon with is a swift action, not a free action.
There are a lot of new weapon special abilities, like Sniper (vastly increase a weapon's range with a move action to aim), or Analog (which means neither tech nor magic in this instance), so carefully read that whole section.
Many weapons have an extra effect on a critical hit (which are 20/x2 now)
Armor can be donned much faster now, The higher level the armor is, the faster it is to put on. Light starts at 4 rounds standard, heavy at 16 rounds.
There is no medium armor.
Light armors in the CRB do not affect speed, have a very low armor check penalty (if any), and generally give a bonus to both EAC and KAC, though not always in the same amount. They also have very little bulk.
Heavy armor can supply E/KAC bonuses into the upper +20 range at high level, still allows a lot of DEX to AC compared to PF, has relatively lower ACP, and varies in speed penalty between none, -5, and -10. They all have some bulk.
Most armors have upgrade slots for various effects, such as force fields, shields, backup generators, etc.
There is Power Armor. Power Armor replaces your STR score, slowly uses up power, and can wildly modify your speed and even movement types. It can also usually have weapons slotted and armor upgrades. You can wear light armor, but not heavy while wearing Power Armor. These are all very bulky.
Cybernetics are basically implanted magic items that are customized to the person that buys them. You can't go around harvesting cybernetics from your foes since each is unique. These can also sometimes have upgrades.
Computers. The rules here are fairly complex but easy to follow in a step-by-step way. This is a whole new subsystem that I don't think has a PF analogue.
Ioun stones have become Aeon stones (from the Aeon throne of the Azlanti Star Empire, I presume), and there's a lot fewer of them listed in the CRB.
Potions have become Serums.
Crafting items no longer saves money, but does make the item easier to repair and hard to damage.
Combat
Action economy: You get 1 standard, 1 move, 1 swift, and 1 reaction. There is no "Combat Reflexes" to give you more reactions. Though I wouldn't rule out some class ability doing this.
Significant Enemies: This rule is purely for "bag of rats" BS
Non-Proficiency penalties also affect the DC of special effects.
Rerolls: You use the better of your original throw or the reroll
Combat Maneuvers are just attack rolls versus a boosted KAC.
Combat applications of Aid Another can now be used at range
Crawling is now a move action
5 foot steps are now a move action
Dropping prone is a swift action
Charge has an attack penalty now, though some class abilities modify this
Hit points no longer go into the negative. They stop at 0, and Resolve points can sustain your life (though massive damage might end you anyways)
Double Movement Costs: unlike normal multiplication in S/PF these kinds of movement penalties do actual multiply
Senses are now qualified as precise or imprecise and nonvisual are thus divided as blindsense or blindsight with the type (e.g. vibration or life sense) in parenthesis.
The types of bonuses are cut in half. Most PF bonuses are just Enhancement in SF. Divine covers both sacred and profane, competence was rolled into insight. Luck and Morale are still around.
Fatigued and Exhausted now affect your AC, attacks, damage, etc. rather than penalizing your ability scores
Flat-footed inflicts a flat penalty to AC and negates your ability to use reactions
Staggered in addition to the usually PF limitations prevents reactions, but not swift actions
Vehicle Rules: like computers, read this whole section. It's its own system within the system. Spaceships are modular, and complex. Planet side vehicle chases are abstracted while space combat is based on a hex grid.
Caster Level: is the total number of levels you have in all spellcasting classes.
Spell Components: Spell entries in the CRB lack a components line. There's no mention in the magic chapter about verbal, somatic, or material/divine focus components, nor even the necessity of having a free hand. What is noted is that magic requires concentration and has intrinsic manifestations that make it obvious to nearby observers.
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One big thing we would need to work out would be conversions of archaic weapons and armor -- these things are very much lacking in the Starfinder core rules, and simply porting over the Pathfinder versions with no changes probably won't work too well.
Critical hits being 20/x2 (plus possible rider) was mentioned. I'd add that there is not a critical confirmation roll, a 20 crits, unless you need a 20 to hit.
Low-light vision works differently in SF.
Characters with low-light vision can see in dim light as if it were
normal light
Houseruling Unarmed Strike based weapons to be usable as operative weapons seems sensible to me.
p224 Potions are now "Spell Ampoules" and scrolls are "Spell Gems"
p225 Potions are also Serums such as "Serums of Healing", ranging from Mk.1 (healing 1d8) to Mk. 3 (healing 6d8).
I did not see anything regarding firing into a melee and the -4 penalty that receives in Pathfinder that can be overcome by Precise Shot. I am assuming that since there is no Point-Blank Shot or Precise Shot, then that rule does not apply in Starfinder, correct?
I think cover still exists, so firing into melee is probably only a problem when there is a person in the way of your target.
Does using two-handed melee weapons add Strength x1.5 like in pathfinder? I would guess no.
Wait...what is the point of Readying a Action if it goes after the triggering action?
Also is counterspelling still in the game?
I didn't see this posted, but taking full actions prevents you from using your swift action, now.
Wait...what is the point of Readying a Action if it goes after the triggering action?
Also is counterspelling still in the game?
I remember seeing references to it in the spell section and in the Dispel Magic description, but I'm away from books at the moment.
....Yeah there doesn't appear to be a way to interrupt a spellcaster at range now.... I may houserule that. Counterspelling is still in(p332), you can either use dispel magic or a specific spell that counters it(like slow and haste).Actually I just found something odd, the text from the "Concentration and Interrupted Spells" section says, "You are most at risk of taking damage while casting when...... a foe readied an action to attack you when you began to cast."
Which seems to imply you can, either that or you can ready an action to attack when a caster starts casting which then hits after the "begins casting" but before the "finishes casting" action, which is weird.
Mmm....something that needs to be FAQ I think...
Though what bothers me is you can not hold a gun on somebody and offer them a chance to surrender and if they don't...they get to shoot first...
Or in a hostage situation you can not ready a action to kill the hostage without suffering attacks first.
Things that you can do in RL should be doable in a RPG.
Just something I will have to houserule.
Though what bothers me is you can not hold a gun on somebody and offer them a chance to surrender and if they don't...they get to shoot first...Do I even need to obliquely refer to the famous movie nerdrage? :P
Han Solo made a bluff check...
and a sleight of hand check...
Though what bothers me is you can not hold a gun on somebody and offer them a chance to surrender and if they don't...they get to shoot first..
Seems reasonable to me. You're busy yacking. Offer surrender afterwards, like a sane person.
Though what bothers me is you can not hold a gun on somebody and offer them a chance to surrender and if they don't...they get to shoot first..Seems reasonable to me. You're busy yacking. Offer surrender afterwards, like a sane person.
Are you serious? Can Starfinder do no wrong with you?
....Yeah there doesn't appear to be a way to interrupt a spellcaster at range now.... I may houserule that. Counterspelling is still in(p332), you can either use dispel magic or a specific spell that counters it(like slow and haste).Actually I just found something odd, the text from the "Concentration and Interrupted Spells" section says, "You are most at risk of taking damage while casting when...... a foe readied an action to attack you when you began to cast."
Which seems to imply you can, either that or you can ready an action to attack when a caster starts casting which then hits after the "begins casting" but before the "finishes casting" action, which is weird.
Mmm....something that needs to be FAQ I think...
Though what bothers me is you can not hold a gun on somebody and offer them a chance to surrender and if they don't...they get to shoot first...
Or in a hostage situation you can not ready a action to kill the hostage without suffering attacks first.
Things that you can do in RL should be doable in a RPG.
Just something I will have to houserule.
Well... If they've already got their gun OUT when you're readying the action to shoot (whoever), then keep in mind, in RL, you can only really react to something once its already begun. So... You've kind of already been shot at (although not nessacarily hit) by the time you've got a chance to do something in response.
In RL, a standoff situation favors the person who acts first; rather than the one reacting... Well, it favors the one acting, and the one who's not distracted by something.
... That said, that's for a standoff situation, where guns are already drawn. In a "quick draw duel", things get a little more complicated. But that's neither here nor there.
Are you serious? Can Starfinder do no wrong with you?Though what bothers me is you can not hold a gun on somebody and offer them a chance to surrender and if they don't...they get to shoot first..Seems reasonable to me. You're busy yacking. Offer surrender afterwards, like a sane person.
I'm not sure what one has to do with the other. Or with the hypothetical you're posing, or why questioning your assumption means a book can't do me wrong.
But yes, I think it is entirely reasonable that if you're asking someone to surrender, they can just shoot you while you're talking and not shooting. You are deliberately hesitating, they have no reason to.
There is material components to spells...it is just in the description of the spell. Maybe not all of them but Explosive Charge(?) you do need a dead battery...
....Yeah there doesn't appear to be a way to interrupt a spellcaster at range now.... I may houserule that. Counterspelling is still in(p332), you can either use dispel magic or a specific spell that counters it(like slow and haste).Actually I just found something odd, the text from the "Concentration and Interrupted Spells" section says, "You are most at risk of taking damage while casting when...... a foe readied an action to attack you when you began to cast."
Which seems to imply you can, either that or you can ready an action to attack when a caster starts casting which then hits after the "begins casting" but before the "finishes casting" action, which is weird.
Mmm....something that needs to be FAQ I think...
Though what bothers me is you can not hold a gun on somebody and offer them a chance to surrender and if they don't...they get to shoot first...
Or in a hostage situation you can not ready a action to kill the hostage without suffering attacks first.
Things that you can do in RL should be doable in a RPG.
Just something I will have to houserule.
Well... If they've already got their gun OUT when you're readying the action to shoot (whoever), then keep in mind, in RL, you can only really react to something once its already begun. So... You've kind of already been shot at (although not nessacarily hit) by the time you've got a chance to do something in response.
In RL, a standoff situation favors the person who acts first; rather than the one reacting... Well, it favors the one acting, and the one who's not distracted by something.
... That said, that's for a standoff situation, where guns are already drawn. In a "quick draw duel", things get a little more complicated. But that's neither here nor there.
If the gun not pointed at you? And you got them covered? They can some how shoot you before you react?
Also lets say the situation is before combat starts...you win initiative but do not really want to fight...you are saying the the quicker person does not win here?
Are you serious? Can Starfinder do no wrong with you?Though what bothers me is you can not hold a gun on somebody and offer them a chance to surrender and if they don't...they get to shoot first..Seems reasonable to me. You're busy yacking. Offer surrender afterwards, like a sane person.I'm not sure what one has to do with the other. Or with the hypothetical you're posing, or why questioning your assumption means a book can't do me wrong.
But yes, I think it is entirely reasonable that if you're asking someone to surrender, they can just shoot you while you're talking and not shooting. You are deliberately hesitating, they have no reason to.
Shouting "Surrender" is not not having a conversation.
Maybe it should not be auto...but there should be a chance for your ready action to interrupt somebody...maybe make it a initiative roll off.
....Yeah there doesn't appear to be a way to interrupt a spellcaster at range now.... I may houserule that. Counterspelling is still in(p332), you can either use dispel magic or a specific spell that counters it(like slow and haste).Actually I just found something odd, the text from the "Concentration and Interrupted Spells" section says, "You are most at risk of taking damage while casting when...... a foe readied an action to attack you when you began to cast."
Which seems to imply you can, either that or you can ready an action to attack when a caster starts casting which then hits after the "begins casting" but before the "finishes casting" action, which is weird.
Mmm....something that needs to be FAQ I think...
Though what bothers me is you can not hold a gun on somebody and offer them a chance to surrender and if they don't...they get to shoot first...
Or in a hostage situation you can not ready a action to kill the hostage without suffering attacks first.
Things that you can do in RL should be doable in a RPG.
Just something I will have to houserule.
Well... If they've already got their gun OUT when you're readying the action to shoot (whoever), then keep in mind, in RL, you can only really react to something once its already begun. So... You've kind of already been shot at (although not nessacarily hit) by the time you've got a chance to do something in response.
In RL, a standoff situation favors the person who acts first; rather than the one reacting... Well, it favors the one acting, and the one who's not distracted by something.
... That said, that's for a standoff situation, where guns are already drawn. In a "quick draw duel", things get a little more complicated. But that's neither here nor there.
If the gun not pointed at you? And you got them covered? They can some how shoot you before you react?
Also lets say the...
Mythbusters probably has an episode about these types of things. :-)
Using the Counter option of Dispel Magic is a defensive readied action.
Purely defensive readied action occur before the triggering event.
Dispel magic cannot counter spell-like abilities.
Are you serious? Can Starfinder do no wrong with you?Though what bothers me is you can not hold a gun on somebody and offer them a chance to surrender and if they don't...they get to shoot first..Seems reasonable to me. You're busy yacking. Offer surrender afterwards, like a sane person.I'm not sure what one has to do with the other. Or with the hypothetical you're posing, or why questioning your assumption means a book can't do me wrong.
But yes, I think it is entirely reasonable that if you're asking someone to surrender, they can just shoot you while you're talking and not shooting. You are deliberately hesitating, they have no reason to.
Shouting "Surrender" is not not having a conversation.
Maybe it should not be auto...but there should be a chance for your ready action to interrupt somebody...maybe make it a initiative roll off.
I didn't say 'have a conversation.' I said very specifically that someone demanding surrender is deliberately hesitating to shoot. Someone refusing is not. That is a big deal in 6 second combat rounds. A deliberate decision not to fire, to wait and hear a response vs. a deliberate decision -to-fire.
Using the Counter option of Dispel Magic is a defensive readied action.
Purely defensive readied action occur before the triggering event.
Dispel magic cannot counter spell-like abilities.
It presents some interesting questions that individual GMs will likely have to adjudicate. What if you are in a mexican standoff with SpaceOrc, Ally and You. Is it a "defensive" action if you want to kill SpaceOrc before he can kill Ally? That sort of thing.
I don't envy StarFinder Society GMs, though. Those folks will have to worry about official rulings.
It's clearly not purely defensive. That's why it's "purely defensive" rather than just "defensive".
....Yeah there doesn't appear to be a way to interrupt a spellcaster at range now.... I may houserule that. Counterspelling is still in(p332), you can either use dispel magic or a specific spell that counters it(like slow and haste).Actually I just found something odd, the text from the "Concentration and Interrupted Spells" section says, "You are most at risk of taking damage while casting when...... a foe readied an action to attack you when you began to cast."
Which seems to imply you can, either that or you can ready an action to attack when a caster starts casting which then hits after the "begins casting" but before the "finishes casting" action, which is weird.
Mmm....something that needs to be FAQ I think...
Though what bothers me is you can not hold a gun on somebody and offer them a chance to surrender and if they don't...they get to shoot first...
Or in a hostage situation you can not ready a action to kill the hostage without suffering attacks first.
Things that you can do in RL should be doable in a RPG.
Just something I will have to houserule.
Well... If they've already got their gun OUT when you're readying the action to shoot (whoever), then keep in mind, in RL, you can only really react to something once its already begun. So... You've kind of already been shot at (although not nessacarily hit) by the time you've got a chance to do something in response.
In RL, a standoff situation favors the person who acts first; rather than the one reacting... Well, it favors the one acting, and the one who's not distracted by something.
... That said, that's for a standoff situation, where guns are already drawn. In a "quick draw duel", things get a little more complicated. But that's neither here nor there.
If the gun not pointed at you? And you got them covered? They can some how shoot you before you react?
Also lets say the situation is before combat starts...you win initiative but do not really want to fight...you are saying the the quicker person does not win here?
With the former statement, it's implying that you're effectively readying the action for the trigger of the other person merely DRAWING their weapon, then sure, you would SHOOT first, though you haven't acted first.
Keep in mind, in Starfinder, as well as Pathfinder; its generally assumed that any drawn weapon is already being pointed at you. Not as a rule, but more in the sense that there's no rule that governs who you're pointing a weapon at. Its like Schrodinger's cat with gun direction. So once they've drawn their gun, they're pointing it at you.
With the later statement, you're intentionally forgoing the benefits of being able to act first, in favour of being reactive. Initiative becomes irrelevant, and who's "quicker" has become moot, since being "quicker" only helps you ACT first, not REACT faster.
Note: There's a reason I said the quick draw scenario was more complicated. Its basically Guy A draws first (what's being reacted to), Guy B (with Quick Draw) reacts and thus draws second, but can fire first; and Guy A fires second. This is effectively the breakdown of both IRL and the Rules as described so far.
You should be able to ready an action for if they raise their weapon. They'd need to do that before firing it. You may even choose to ready against an aimed weapon. They'd need to aim the gun at you before they could fire it.
Creatures larger than Medium or smaller than small get a size-based bonus/penalty on strength checks to break objects (Pg. 409)
Unattended objects take an additional -2 to AC and you can use a full round action to auto hit with a melee attack or get a +5 on your ranged attack against them.
Are you serious? Can Starfinder do no wrong with you?Though what bothers me is you can not hold a gun on somebody and offer them a chance to surrender and if they don't...they get to shoot first..Seems reasonable to me. You're busy yacking. Offer surrender afterwards, like a sane person.I'm not sure what one has to do with the other. Or with the hypothetical you're posing, or why questioning your assumption means a book can't do me wrong.
But yes, I think it is entirely reasonable that if you're asking someone to surrender, they can just shoot you while you're talking and not shooting. You are deliberately hesitating, they have no reason to.
Well in real life that is not reasonable if you have the drop on someone. If I have my gun aimed directly at you, you can only get a free shot if your weapon was already pointed directly at my body which is unlikely and if I am going to shoot if you move maybe not even then.
But according to Starfinder rules you don't get that first shot because talking is not an action and in reason you can say things even on your opponent's turn. It is called cinematic effect or something. this means I can tell someone to drop your weapon and surrender just before my action begins and then declare a held action, if he does not drop his gun and drop to the floor I shoot him.
Okay, but then let's say a third party has a gun aimed directly at you and uses a prepared action to shoot you when you shoot the first target. Should they be able to hit you before you're able to fire? I would say no... It doesn't really make much sense in that situation.
Whether the prepared action or the triggering action goes first seems like something a GM could easily judge based on context. A prepared action always going first or always going second doesn't really make much sense on its own.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that this doesn't really seem like a problem to me. In most combat situations, both sides are likely to have their guns at the ready, and it makes sense for most prepared actions to go off second. In other situations, like when you have the drop on someone, the GM can pretty easily rule that your action can go first.
Okay so how does the multiweapon feat work for a four armed Kasatha.
It states reduce penalty by one if you have two or more either operative or small arms.
Full Attack in the tactical rules says two attacks a -4 and nothing further about three attacks or more.
The strict reading of the feat is I can take either 4 shots with a small arm in each hand or 4 stabs with a knife in each hand at -3.
The Sol has three attacks at -5 (-6 less =1 presumably) at higher levels.
Did they mean -2 per attack made?
And what about the first attack. Does that have to be a pistol or knife. Could I have a long rifle in two arms and two small arms in the other hands and get three attacks at -3, or is it one at -4 and two at -3 or is it one attack with a long rifle or two at -3 only.
Seems much more restrictive. Also what if I have two knives and two pistols in my characters arms. Can I get 4 attacks or is it two or two?
Book does not seem to explain.
Multi weapon fighting doesn't give you any extra attacks. It just means when you do a full attack with 2+ weapons, the penalties are lowered by 1. So most characters would do 2 attacks at -3 each, or a soldier would do 3 at -5 each instead of the regular penalties.
A full attack is making 2 attacks by default, which can be the same, or 2 different weapons. If you have 3 weapons drawn, you couldn't fire all of them unless you have a class feature that allows you to make 3 attacks per full attack (which I believe soldier and solarion have).
Having 4 arms doesn't give you 2 extra attacks during a full attack, that would be absurdly powerful.
This thread has been helpful.
I compiled a list of stuff and put it into a Google Doc for my home players. We will be trying out Starfinder this weekend.
The file is commentable so if there is stuff you think I should add, go ahead and make comments.
Dot