As far as the Drone as Crewmen discussion, could a drone man a gun? It requires a BAB and Dex, or piloting skill, to shoot a gun.
I see no reason why it couldn't. Alternatively, my drone's got Engineering and Manipulators, so worst case he can keep the boat strapped together while I man guns.
Will having my drone hide and snipe targets work well in this game?
In terms of staying hidden, sniping doesn't appear to work well for anybody in Starfinder. Since there are no more range penalties to Perception checks, even a master sniper is going to get spotted pretty easily thanks to that -20 sniping penalty.
Also for sniping to be viable, the Paizo approach to locations and combat areas would need to change as well, and there isn't really much evidence of that in the first AP module. Maybe when things move to planet exploration there will be some big, wide open spaces.
Also for sniping to be viable, the Paizo approach to locations and combat areas would need to change as well, and there isn't really much evidence of that in the first AP module. Maybe when things move to planet exploration there will be some big, wide open spaces.
That's hard to do. Firefights are fun. Sniping a target that can't shoot back (and not everybody carries a sniper rifle), is not that much.
Would a drone focused on combat maneuver's (Trip and disarm) be of use? give it a weapon arm for a taclash and the feat towards combat maneuvers. It wouldn't need to focus on damage too much and would have some decent bonuses to succeed. The ac could be an issue, but if you have a normal front liner next to it soaking up the hits while the drone just tries to trip and disarm. Thoughts?
Dirty Trick to Blind could be hella useful...
Also for sniping to be viable, the Paizo approach to locations and combat areas would need to change as well, and there isn't really much evidence of that in the first AP module. Maybe when things move to planet exploration there will be some big, wide open spaces.That's hard to do. Firefights are fun. Sniping a target that can't shoot back (and not everybody carries a sniper rifle), is not that much.
Even having an option where a sniper character could be off map taking shots each round would maybe be useful. Or perhaps the sniper can thin a horde before it arrives for close combat. Taking out a key leader before close combat. There are plenty of ways to make sniping viable without turning it into a yawn-fest. No one is expecting a part of snipers to be able to just sit back and kill things with no threat, but if the game isn't going to give the weapon a chance to do what it is named for, then there was no point in putting it in the game.
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I would say drones could also be repaired like items with the engineering skill. Not explicitly RAW because the drone is a creature, but it's how I'm running it.
No one is expecting a part of snipers to be able to just sit back and kill things with no threat, but if the game isn't going to give the weapon a chance to do what it is named for, then there was no point in putting it in the game.
The players are expecting it, if you give them the chance.
Keep in mind the Mechanic Trick of Repair Drone, which bumps the 10% repair to 25%, which quickly ups the survivability of your little buddy. Also, there are the different uses for it, scouting out ahead with commands to retreat if fired upon, great if it has a camera. Or adding the mod that will have it go into a healing subroutine if your character falls. Mine, with the Hover Drone, at level one had an AC of 17, which is pretty decent, due to it's size of Tiny, also with it's size, it had the highest to-hit of anyone in the party, even though it was only equipped with a Pulsecaster pistol and was non-lethal (Character choice) With the right mods you can also give it a tool arm to give you an assist with repairs. Any skill it is trained in does not require direct supervision and control to perform.
Honestly, I'd trade out the standard weapon mount to make the drone have the arms to chuck grenades. Hover drone as a targeted drone bomber? Yeah, why not?
Otherwise, I'd try to narrow the design so much as to effectively create a certain self-propelled arrow that can obliterate whole starship crews. Mount that drone with a melee weapon and have it be a harrier. Or put it in a drone fight club.
If I'm taking it out of combat, I'd use it as a remote hacking system. Send one through vents or other spaces too small for the party to get to sensitive systems or data pads. Surveillance work is fine for the drone, especially if it can stealth out or also corrupt data as it passes.
Keep in mind the Mechanic Trick of Repair Drone, which bumps the 10% repair to 25%, which quickly ups the survivability of your little buddy. Also, there are the different uses for it, scouting out ahead with commands to retreat if fired upon, great if it has a camera. Or adding the mod that will have it go into a healing subroutine if your character falls. Mine, with the Hover Drone, at level one had an AC of 17, which is pretty decent, due to it's size of Tiny, also with it's size, it had the highest to-hit of anyone in the party, even though it was only equipped with a Pulsecaster pistol and was non-lethal (Character choice) With the right mods you can also give it a tool arm to give you an assist with repairs. Any skill it is trained in does not require direct supervision and control to perform.
You do realize that size modifiers to AC and to-hit don't exist in Starfinder, right?