Is it odd? Yep. Does fire work in a vacuum? Yep.
Yes it does, and it's even logically sound thanks to the insanely unscientific rules of this system's life support.
In Starfinder, all armor comes with complete environmental protection that is magically impenetrable.
Unless otherwise specified, all armors protect you from a range of hazards to ensure that you can survive for at least a few days if you must make emergency repairs to the hull of a Starship, explore an alien world, or endure exposure to an environmental breach in a space station. Some armors do this through an environmental field (a minor force field specially attuned to pressure and temperature that does not reduce damage from attacks), while others can be closed with helmets and airtight seals.
No where do the rules say anything about damage being able to disrupt this protection in any way. So when you get hit with a bullet or laser, the damage is done but your environment stays intact. Is this scientifically ridiculous? Yes. Does it allow for more fun gameplay because players aren't terrified of stepping foot into deadly environments as their life support could fail when they inevitably get hit in combat? Absolutely.
So, by the game's own logic, your life support cannot be disrupted and thus you could be on fire in space. The life support will provide the fire the same protection it provides the player, ironically.
Unless your players are in vacuum without life support of any kind (in which case, a little fire damage is the least of their problems), they can be set on fire, or have any other effect work on them as it would in a standard planetary environment.
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Your logic is sound by my understanding of physics HWalsh. But this is starfinder ( kicks logic into a pit) and unless the environment specifically States and effect does not work then it works. Another way to look at this if you want is the fact that the weapon did any damage at all means it somehow bypassed the armor so the burn effect also has passed the armor maybe the laser shot found a weak seal and started a small fire inside the armor who knows?
There's a thread in which people are brainstorming ideas on how penetrated armors protect their owners.
Things like instant sealant closing the holes made by the weapon,and things of that nature.
It is entirely conceivable that your weapon could penetrate the suit and set the wearer on fire, then be sealed through automatic failsafes.
If the damage/fire kills the occupant, than it could be described as having been too catastrophic for the failsafes to do much for the victim.
I find it weirder that a laser converted to two non-fire types of damage via weapon fusions still has Burn as a critical effect, but that's the case.
Lasers only do one damage, Xenocrat. Wouldn't they then only be converted to one other type of damage?
The only time you end up with two types of damage, is when it began that way, such as with a plasma weapon.
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Lasers only do one damage, Xenocrat. Wouldn't they then only be converted to one other type of damage?
The only time you end up with two types of damage, is when it began that way, such as with a plasma weapon.
Two sequentially activated elemental fusions on a single element weapon can remove the original, standard element. So you can have a laser that does half cold, half electricity damage, but still does burn on a critical hit.
Ah. I thought it only changed half in the case of double energy weapons. My mistake.
Gunpowder and Thermite will burn in a vacuum. Somethings can combust sans external oxygen.
I haven't tried to climb inside a vacuum
Yet.