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This seems pretty basic, but I couldn't find anyone calling it out.
Are Solarians able to drop their solar weapons as a means of dismissing them as a free action (since it auto-dismisses whenever leaving your hand)?
I would think you could, except that dismissing them is called out as a move action. If you could dismiss as a free action with no conceivable downside, why bother including an option to dismiss as a move action?
My inclination is to think this was just an oversight. But I want to make sure I'm not missing something.
Actually, they can't be disarmed:
Only you can interact with your solar manifestation, whether
in mote, armor, or weapon form. No other creature or effect can
affect your solar manifestation in any way, including disarming
or sundering it.
Since a Solar Weapon is a Solar Mnifestation, it can't be disarmed or sundered by an opponent.
On the other hand, if it ever leaves your hand, it just disappears.
Forming or dismissing a solar weapon is a move action that
takes the same amount of effort as drawing or sheathing a
weapon (and can be combined with a move as a single move
action or used with the Quick Draw feat). Your solar weapon is
automatically dismissed if it ever leaves your hand.
Emphasis mine.
Given you can drop an item at any time without an action per the Tactical rules:
You can drop any item or items that you’re holding into your
square or into an adjacent square at any time without spending
any actions.
You can definitely dismiss the Solar weapon by simply "dropping" it at no action cost.
Yeah, rules trump logic.
The only way this makes sense in a balance way is that the leaving your hand bit is only to prevent thrown solarian weapons. Otherwise, always drop it and skip the move action.
Maybe a solarian weapon doesn't count as an "item" and hence can't be dropped?
It's the fact it takes a move action to turn the weapon into the mote but if you simply drop it, it turns on its own.
As a GM I'd consider the 'Drop" action as meaning the mote no longer follows you around, like an aeon stone.
Yeah, rules trump logic.
The only way this makes sense in a balance way is that the leaving your hand bit is only to prevent thrown solarian weapons. Otherwise, always drop it and skip the move action.
Maybe a solarian weapon doesn't count as an "item" and hence can't be dropped?
How is this a trump of logic?
The Solar Mote is a glowing thing that flies around following you. When you drop the Solar Weapon it turns into the mote. Then it follows you.
If we went with the assumption that you cannot voluntarily drop a solar weapon (as doing so would equate to the move action of dismissing it under that assumption), would that lead to any contradictions? Then the only time you would be dropping the solar weapon as a non-action would be when some outside influence forces you to do so.
Assuming that you can voluntarily drop a solar weapon as a free action and have it automatically dismissed obviously raises the question of why anyone would ever use a move action to dismiss it.
Maybe we should start FAQing the original post?
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What makes you think solar weapon can't be disarmed?
That quote from page 101 given by Hiruma Kai?
I know that this has been widely assumed to be one of the advantages of the solar weapon as opposed to a standard one... if a solar weapon CAN be disarmed it is at best a very common misconception/misinterpretation of the text.
In practice, if it could be disarmed but that dismisses it and you could draw it again, that would probably be fine. It's still better than a regular melee weapon would be in that situation. But the text here seems unambiguous.
But if you have to spend a move action to dismiss it, then it certain situations it will be worse than a regular melee weapon. Which might be RAI, but it's worth noting.
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I know that this has been widely assumed to be one of the advantages of the solar weapon as opposed to a standard one... if a solar weapon CAN be disarmed it is at best a very common misconception/misinterpretation of the text.
I don't think that we can say it has been a 'misconception/misinterpretation of the text'. It flat out says it can't be disarmed. Even squinting at it from afar in the half light I don't see how anyone could read it any other way.
What makes you think solar weapon can't be disarmed?That quote from page 101 given by Hiruma Kai?
THIS. This is why we are nitpicking everything so much. I just don't know what to trust anymore.
If this were a videogame I'd probably be shelving it for a few more months until the initial bugs got patched out. I get that the game is gonna have issues at launch, but man, i don't even know if I'm playing the same game as everybody else sometimes.
Well this thread has taken an extremely worrying turn.
Starfinder Design Lead
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Hey folks, me asking where someone got an opinion is NOT a statement that the opinion is incorrect, or even a questioning of it's legitimacy. It's a request for a train of thought, and nothing more.
We sometimes have rules in more than once place or rules that interact with one another in specific ways. When we're looking at whether or not to make a FAQ entry or note something for errata, its useful to know specifically where someone is getting a belief in how the rule works.
My asking a question is never a repudiation of the point I am asking a question about.
It's also useful to see what part of what rules people notice, as we analyze how to present rules in the future.
The black letter law on this is clear, and always has been. I just wanted to know what routes people had taken to get there.
That brings about the question of what outside influence could do that. Solar weapon can't be disarmed. Any enchantment effect could lead to the move-dismiss instead of drop.
Can a solar maintain the weapon if unconscious?
If we went with the assumption that you cannot voluntarily drop a solar weapon (as doing so would equate to the move action of dismissing it under that assumption), would that lead to any contradictions? Then the only time you would be dropping the solar weapon as a non-action would be when some outside influence forces you to do so.
Assuming that you can voluntarily drop a solar weapon as a free action and have it automatically dismissed obviously raises the question of why anyone would ever use a move action to dismiss it.