This thread is to note incorrect or potentially missing information in Alien Archive.
Page 47, Elder Elemental: Melee is misprinted as "multiattack." It also forgot to add in the Strength modifier to damage, should be 4d6+19, not 4d6+11.
Page 47, Air Elemental Graft: A "Flyby Attack" feat is listed. No such feat exists in this book or the core rulebook.
Page 72, Kyokor: Other abilities include "massive," but no such ability is explained in the book.
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Page 6, the Aeon Guard has an AC vastly higher than any other CR 3, and indeed higher than a PC could possibly have wearing the same armor, while its offense and other abilities remain identical to other CR 3s. It's Save DC is also strangely high (though only by two points).
Page 42, the Drow Enforcer, likewise, have vastly higher AC than their CR indicates, and more than a PC could have in their armor.
In both cases, it looks like someone just added their Dex modifier to their Armor bonus (and added the Armored Advantage Gear Boost on the Aeon Soldier, the only part of this that's mechanically kosher) to determine AC (ignoring the max Dex of the armor), which is an understandable mistake from someone used to Pathfinder.
It is nevertheless a rather profound mechanical error given how Starfinder NPCs work.
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Page 56-57:
Gray's cannot speak, and only can communicate telepathically (p56)
Yet there is no mention of their telepathy ability, nor an inability to speak on the PC version (p57). They do have access to "telepathic message" as an at will spell (which could be used to cover speaking at very short range), but the ommission is somewhat confusing.
Page 47, Elder Elemental: The Elder Elemental has the same HP as the Greater Elemental; the Elder should be higher.
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Page 6, the Aeon Guard has an AC vastly higher than any other CR 3, and indeed higher than a PC could possibly have wearing the same armor, while its offense and other abilities remain identical to other CR 3s. It's Save DC is also strangely high (though only by two points).
Page 42, the Drow Enforcer, likewise, have vastly higher AC than their CR indicates, and more than a PC could have in their armor.
In both cases, it looks like someone just added their Dex modifier to their Armor bonus (and added the Armored Advantage Gear Boost on the Aeon Soldier, the only part of this that's mechanically kosher) to determine AC (ignoring the max Dex of the armor), which is an understandable mistake from someone used to Pathfinder.
It is nevertheless a rather profound mechanical error given how Starfinder NPCs work.
Fixing these is fairly easy. Just go to the back of the book and look up the combatant statblock and search for their AC entries. Level 3 combatant statblock (and level 1 statblocky, respectively) and copy-paste.
The Aeon guard should have an EAC of 14 and a Kac of 16.
The drow should be Eac 11 and Kac 13
neither of them has the soldier gear boost that ups KAC, so that is that.
EDIT
But looking at it now, the ACs of a lot of these guys are messed up. The CR 9 Dragonkin has EAC 25 and KAC 27, despite the fact that it should be around the 22/24 range. I mean, +3 AC is a fair amount in this game. Not as much as the 6 they gave the Aeon soldier though. . . .
Barathu PCs should have darkvision, but don't. Like grays, contemplative PCs don't have telepathy when they likely should.
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Page 23, Bloodbrother Serum: Costs 500 credits, lasts 5 rounds (30 seconds), has flavor text indicating the creators of this item use it to walk around ice floes and mediate, which seems like a lot to accomplish in 30 seconds. Suggest either lengthening the duration or removing the flavor text that doesn't plausibly match the mechanics.
Page 99, Diasporan Rifles: These allegedly follow laser rules and have battery capacity and usage numbers, but the capacity numbers do not match any published batteries and no new batteries are described. The 10 and 20 capacity versions can be adjusted by picking a 20 or 40 capacity battery and adjusting the usage appropriately, but the 30 capacity/1 usage can't be evenly converted into any existing battery capacity and usage level to ensure 30 shots per minimum (or maximum) battery size and usage will need to be edited more significantly.
I'm not certain that the Batteries on the rifles count as an "error."
So you can only recharge that battery and have to plug in a 20 charge if you don't have access to a recharge station. 20 shots is still respectable.
Page 23, Bloodbrother Serum: Costs 500 credits, lasts 5 rounds (30 seconds), has flavor text indicating the creators of this item use it to walk around ice floes and mediate, which seems like a lot to accomplish in 30 seconds. Suggest either lengthening the duration or removing the flavor text that doesn't plausibly match the mechanics.
Page 99, Diasporan Rifles: These allegedly follow laser rules and have battery capacity and usage numbers, but the capacity numbers do not match any published batteries and no new batteries are described. The 10 and 20 capacity versions can be adjusted by picking a 20 or 40 capacity battery and adjusting the usage appropriately, but the 30 capacity/1 usage can't be evenly converted into any existing battery capacity and usage level to ensure 30 shots per minimum (or maximum) battery size and usage will need to be edited more significantly.
Except you can't recharge a battery you don't have a cost for unless you have free recharging somewhere...
page 75 and page 119, Maraquoi and Verthani PC stats: Both these races have the "old" Pathfinder version of Low-Light Vision in their description. (X can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.)
That's a pretty minor, obvious fix though.
page 36: The example dragon does not have low-light form its base creature type (Dragon) from page 133
page 37: There is no help in determining the fly speed of any of the dragons in the template grafts or the Appendixes.
On the later one, I understand that one could look back at the Pathfinder stats, but if someone were playing Starfinder without ever playing or having access to those resources, they would have nothing to reference.
page 37: There is no help in determining the fly speed of any of the dragons in the template grafts or the Appendixes.
On the later one, I understand that one could look back at the Pathfinder stats, but if someone were playing Starfinder without ever playing or having access to those resources, they would have nothing to reference.
Good catch. The only answer I could see is on page 128 under "speed" it says to choose a speed that suits your NPC. Which doesn't really help new GMs.
So I guess depending on the GM for each game you play, Dragons could have vastly different speeds, depending on what suits the needs of that particular game.
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I'm not certain that the Batteries on the rifles count as an "error."
So you can only recharge that battery and have to plug in a 20 charge if you don't have access to a recharge station. 20 shots is still respectable.
Page 23, Bloodbrother Serum: Costs 500 credits, lasts 5 rounds (30 seconds), has flavor text indicating the creators of this item use it to walk around ice floes and mediate, which seems like a lot to accomplish in 30 seconds. Suggest either lengthening the duration or removing the flavor text that doesn't plausibly match the mechanics.
Page 99, Diasporan Rifles: These allegedly follow laser rules and have battery capacity and usage numbers, but the capacity numbers do not match any published batteries and no new batteries are described. The 10 and 20 capacity versions can be adjusted by picking a 20 or 40 capacity battery and adjusting the usage appropriately, but the 30 capacity/1 usage can't be evenly converted into any existing battery capacity and usage level to ensure 30 shots per minimum (or maximum) battery size and usage will need to be edited more significantly.
If I'm not mistaken, you can't put a 20 charge battery in a 10 charge device. It's like shoving a 1.5v D cell battery into a 1.5v AA battery compartment, but you can go the other direction.
So a weapon that uses a 20 charge, 2 per shot battery could fire a 10 charge at 2 per shot, but a 20 charge just can't be used in a 10 charge slot.
Also, since batteries are removable and replaceable, you could legally buy a 1cr 10 charge flashlight and use it's battery, but I think that's broken as well.
Aside from connection, there's really nothing stopping me from hooking up my car battery to my TV remote. All I need is an adapter and/or power converter.
So...
...I spend 5 credits for an adapter and go to town with larger batteries. :P
Aside from connection, there's really nothing stopping me from hooking up my car battery to my TV remote. All I need is an adapter and/or power converter.
So...
** spoiler omitted **
...I spend 5 credits for an adapter and go to town with larger batteries. :P
Okay, but here's some rules from 168:
A weapon’s battery cannot be recharged to hold more charges than its capacity.
and 170:
And for the record, good luck finding an adapter that will let you plug car batteries into a slot meant for Button Cells. Pretty much every adapter I can find is for upgrading batteries, not downgrading.
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The Shobhad and Kasatha are descended from the Wytchwyrd but they are divergent enough to be their own thing.
Page 42, the Drow Enforcer, doesn't explicitly cover the rules around the create darkness ability. Does the race have that ability or not?
Does anyone know how AC works in the Alien Archive? It's all so different from creature to creature.
It is most likely based on the level of threat they represent.
Just look up their CR, then find the EAC/KAC for that CR on Table 1, 3, or 5. I'm willing to bet it will match up more often than not.
Note also that where there is variation, there's often meant to be. As has been noted previously on other threads here, the AA is very explicit that, in its words, "Everything Is Optional" (p. 127). The tables are guidelines that are meant to be adjusted and fine-tuned for the creature concept, not absolutes from which deviation is error.
So for example, you'll notice this complaint earlier in the thread (sorry to pick on Deadman, I know this was a while ago, it's just an instructive example):
Page 6, the Aeon Guard has an AC vastly higher than any other CR 3, and indeed higher than a PC could possibly have wearing the same armor, while its offense and other abilities remain identical to other CR 3s. It's Save DC is also strangely high (though only by two points).
And the bolded statement is wrong in two ways: one in that the Aeon Guard's AC is largely consistent with that of a standard CR3 combatant buffed by the armour it's wearing, and two in that to the extent there is a variance it's that KAC is a point lower than the "standard" numbers would dictate. Elsewhere it has better stat bonuses than "standard" for CR3 creatures (one recalls the Azlanti in Pathfinder having been stat-buffed somewhat, probably there's a related idea here).
Those very likely aren't errata so much as design and concept choices. Part of what the book is demonstrating is the practical outcomes of that everything-is-optional rule and how there can be give and take in the numbers to make something fit a concept better.
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I strongly disagree. With the exception of the Aeon Guard and Drow Enforcer, AC is pretty much always within CR guidelines (or a point or so of them) including armor.
The guidelines are supposed to include gear, which doesn't mean that AC can't be higher than would be expected due to armor, but does mean that if it is they should have worse stuff elsewhere.
With the exception of the Aeon Guard and Drow Enforcer, AC is pretty much always within CR guidelines (or a point or so of them) including armor.
I just said exactly that about the Aeon Guard. If you look at the CR guidelines plus the armour they're wearing (whose bonuses are specified on the next page) they do pretty much line up except for the KAC being a point lower than the "standard" you'd expect from just applying the table straight.
I'm not saying the deviations are major; just that when they're there they mostly look like design choices, not errata, as is consistent with what the design rules specify.
With the exception of the Aeon Guard and Drow Enforcer, AC is pretty much always within CR guidelines (or a point or so of them) including armor.I just said exactly that about the Aeon Guard. If you look at the CR guidelines plus the armour they're wearing (whose bonuses are specified on the next page) they do pretty much line up except for the KAC being a point lower than the "standard" you'd expect from just applying the table straight.
I'm not saying the deviations are major; just that when they're there they mostly look like design choices, not errata, as is consistent with what the design rules specify.
It would seem that they used the armor improvement as the NPC's special ability.
Oh, was Deadman saying you're not supposed to add armor AC bonuses as gear to the basic bonuses in the array? I believe it depends on whether you're using a class graft (as stated on P. 137). I expect the Aeon Guard was built that way, there are others; the Kalo Sharkhunter wears Freebooter Armour and has the same bonuses to its base AC in the array that you would expect from that. Not sure if that's really a special ability so much as just part of a graft... in fact I'm pretty sure that's what it is.
Maybe that's the detail that was confusing Aurora. If so it might help to think of it in narrative terms: if you're building an honest-to-goodness Monster or a disposable mook for your story, you just plug in the numbers from the basic arrays, maybe fiddle with them a bit as needed and off you go. If you're applying a class graft it's probably to a character who's supposed to be a bit more prominent in the story: like, maybe they're repping a distinct alien culture or power like the Kalo Sharkhunter or the Aeon Guard. In those cases someone has clearly been through and applied the actual bonuses from their gear to the base AC, with a little fudging here and there.
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I was saying that, yes. The Arrays are intended to be the rough final stats of the creature. Adding gear on top of them is not a good plan and not well supported by the rules, either. Gear is intended as one way to reach those benchmarks, not an addition on top of them.
The Kalo Sharkhunter does not, in fact, add its armor to the printed AC, for example. It is +3 EAC and +2 KAC over the listed Combatant stuff, not the +2 EAC, +3 KAC its armor indicates. It's AC does neatly match its Dex Mod plus that of the armor, and that's almost certainly intentional, but it also actually has downsides to its enhanced AC (weaker offensive gear than you might expect, including lower melee damage, plus no listed gear boost).
My point is not that AC can never go higher than that listed, it can. But the creature has to give something up for it, and while armor can be a part of that increase, it does not remove the necessity for such tradeoffs. It is not just a free bonus.
To give another example, the Dragonkin also has higher AC than is typical for its CR...by +3 in each category. Not the +13/+15 its Advanced Iridishell would give it by your suggestion. Again, this does match up perfectly with its Iridishell + Dex Mod...and again, its damage is a bit anemic to compensate (and it lacks Gear Boosts, and its HP are slightly low).
It's an explicit (and oft-repeated) design intention and decision that NPCs have lower AC than PCs of equivalent level (to go with their higher Attack Bonuses). Adding armor flatly to the listed stats is not a sane way to achieve that or consistent with any monsters beyond the two you list.
Now, the conclusion this gets me to is that, generally, you should just put an NPC in level appropriate armor and add their Dex to determine AC just as you would be for a PC, but then eyeball and compare that with the table and make sure that if that gets them too high, you reduce their capabilities in other areas. Or adjust their CR. Or something to get them back roughly in line with the guidelines.
Which is absolutely not what happened with the Aeon Guard and Drow Enforcer. At all. Indeed, just actually applying the PC rules to their AC (specifically, the Dex Mod maxes of their armor) gets the Drow a 14/16 and the Aeon Soldier a 17/19, which while still several points up from where they should be by the chart are at least not utterly absurd. Combined with a real downside or three (or, frankly, just upping their CR) and they suddenly get a lot more reasonable.
Page 10 & 11 of the Alien Archive
These two constructs both have "Ranged Natural Attacks" and weapons, but the range of these attacks ("electrical burst", "laser ray") is NEVER specified. I could not find the range of these weapons/attacks anywhere.
Is there by any chance a general rule about natural weapons' ranges that I don't know about?
Thank you for your attention
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In regards to FAQ's in general, there was mention of a FAQ coming but that was several months ago at this point. Would be great to see something updating the NUMEROUS issues that are present in the books at this point.
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Page 72, Alien Archive
The Kyokor creature has a trait under "other abilites" which is called "massive". This trait does not exist in the traits list or anywhere in the Alien Archive, or in the Core Rulebook.
What is that?
(by the way, I hope you can confirm that it was an attempt to give the creature some sort of DR, because as it is it doesn't have any kinetic DR. And that's absolutely ridiculous for what a Kyokor is supposed to be. My quick way of fixing it would be giving it the Enhanced Resistance feat, which will grant it an appropriate DR 35/-)
Page 130, Alien Archive
Can't belive I noticed it only now: the progression table for the "EXPERT" type of creature Array has good WILL saves and poor reflex and fortitude. This is identical to the progression of the "SPELLCASTER" Array, which can not be correct.
I am pretty sure the EXPERT progression should have good REFLEX saves instead.
Anyone else noticed this? Is there any post about it from the devs? I know it's not mentioned in any errata, but then again we still don't have a dedicated Alien Archive errata.
:/
Why do Hobgoblin characters lose their racial +2 Con bonus from Pathfinder 1E? This seems like it should be an errata point since every other PF1E race conversion to Starfinder carries over all racial ability modifiers as-written.
Starfinder's approach to racial ability modifiers is that every race's abilities add up to a +2. Usually this is with +2,+2,-2, but some do it differently.
For conversions of races that were +2,+2 with no negatives in PF, SF seems to have settled on one fixed +2 as it's general solution(except with kasatha, but I imagine that has more to do with them being a core race).
Personally I'm not a huge fan of this. I would have preferred they pick a mental stat to give hobgoblins a negative towards.
For me though the biggest loser for this decision are aasimar who got stuck with a +2 to cha, because how the other aasimar bloodlines are going to get converted while feeling unique has left me a bit confounded. Personally I house rule it to aasimar having the floating +2 that humans, half-elves, and half-orcs get, with the player getting to choose bloodline based on which one got that bonus in PF.
As for hobgoblins, they do get some alternative ability score bonuses in Near Space. They're still single +2 entries, but I believe one is for con.
This thread is to note incorrect or potentially missing information in Alien Archive.
Page 47, Elder Elemental: Melee is misprinted as "multiattack." It also forgot to add in the Strength modifier to damage, should be 4d6+19, not 4d6+11.
Yes. This should definitely be errata for the Alien Archive. The elder elemental on page 47 should have Melee slam +24 (4d6+19 B).
Hit Points should be 180 (not 145).
This is important to fix because it will affect any summoning stat blocks too which rely upon the elemental stat block. So any 6th level summoning spells which summon a CR 11 creature will need to have the correct melee attack and Hit Points as well.