I just started a starfinder game, and it's going to turn into a relic hunt pretty fast. They party will find the first piece within the next 2 sessions, and I want them to do more than just be macguffins, so I want to make them into interesting toys for the PCs to use. Haven't decided on its final form yet, but it's probably going to be a crystal or something that's split into parts. Each part functions as an identical item that can be utilized differently for each character class, and as they find more pieces, they can either combine them to get a boost to the abilities they offer, or split them up so more people get access to weaker versions. It's going to be able to be split up and reformed at will, so they don't have to lock into either choice.
What I need to figure out is what they're going to do, and I thought I might pick your brain for ideas. I need to come up with options my PCs can use first.. Currently, the party is level 1 and consists of a Solarion (weapon option, and proficient with heavy armor. Melee/tank), an engineer (exocortex), a mystic (can't remember his source, tho), and a technomancer (might build towards a spells through sniper rifle gimmick).
For the Solarian, I figured it could function as a weapon crystal that offers bonuses based on their attunement. For a start, I figured one piece would give a +1 AC bonus with graviton attunement (with different defensive bonuses unlocked with more pieces, since it seems like the game is balanced by very few extra AC boosting items) and giving like 1d3 extra plasma damage when attuned to photons (getting a better damage die and crit ability with more pieces). Obviously would need to come up with something else for armor-focused Solarians.
I figured it could enchance the mechanic's exocortex in some way, maybe starting off by granting a bonus combat feat (and offering lesser benefits with more shards) or a damage bonus on his scanned target (or maybe the ability to use a trick attack on them)?
Technomancer I was thinking about having it let her choose a bonus spell of any level she can cast and add it to her spell list as long as she possesses it, and then it could grant more spells with more shards and maybe function like a pearl of power. Or it could just grant a +2 damage bonus with all of her spells, or something.
Mystic, I have no clue yet. Any ideas here would be most welcome, as would any tips on flaws in the above bonuses and ideas for remaining classes. I want to make sure they give the party abilities that won't be gamebreakers but that players can still get excited about.