I want to make a Starfinder Society character who uses the Summon Creature spell. The 1st level version of the spell summons a Tiny Elemental with a graft. I found some ambiguities in the rules for Tiny creatures, and wanting to avoid the dreaded "table variation" in organized play, I was hoping to get some sort of official clarification on how a Tiny Elemental functions in combat.
(All cited rules in a spoiler at the end)
Question 1: What is the space and reach of a Tiny Elemental?
The Core Rulebook says that a Tiny creature typically has a space of 2-1/2 ft. and creatures who occupy less than 1 square of space typically have a reach of 0 ft. The Core Rulebook and Alien Archive also say that a creature's size determines its space and reach.
However, the Tiny Elemental's stat block does not have space or reach entries. The Core Rulebook and Alien Archive say that a creature's space and reach are listed if they are anything other than a 5 ft. space and a 5 ft. reach.
There seem to be two different rules saying different things here. One says the Tiny Elemental should have a space of 2-1/2 ft. and a reach of 0 ft. The other says it should have a space of 5 ft. and a reach of 5 ft.
I think the intent is that it should have a space of 2-1/2 ft. and a reach of 0 ft., and the exclusion of the space and reach entries was a mistake, rather than implicitly making the creature bigger. But if that's the case, that leads to another question.
Question 2: How does a creature with 0 ft. reach attack in melee?
The Core Rulebook says that a creature with a reach of 0 ft. must enter an enemy's square to attack in melee. However, the movement rules forbid ending your movement in a square occupied by a non-helpless creature. In Pathfinder, there was an exception for creatures of size Tiny or smaller , but Starfinder has no such exception. Starfinder does allow up to four Tiny creatures to share a square , so that seems like a specific exception to not ending movement in an occupied square - you could have four Tiny creatures in a square attacking each other.
Aside from the specific exceptions allowing four Tiny creatures to share a square, or for a creature to share a square with a helpless creature, there seems to be no way in Starfinder for a Tiny creature to end its movement in an occupied square and attack.
I think the intent is that Tiny creatures should be allowed to function as they did in Pathfinder, and the exclusion of the rule that lets them move into occupied squares was an oversight. But it's also possible that the Starfinder devs intended Tiny creatures to normally be nothing but a nuisance, suddenly becoming deadly when a party member is downed and the Tiny creatures can swarm into their square for the kill.
Size and Space - Fine, Diminutive, and Tiny
These creatures take up less than 1 square of space. This means that more than one such creature can fit into a single square. A Tiny creature typically occupies a space only 2-1/2 feet across, so four can fit into a single square. Up to 25 Diminutive creatures or 100 Fine creatures can fit into a single square.
Reach and Threatened Squares
Creatures that take up less than 1 square of space typically have a natural reach of 0 feet, meaning they can’t reach into adjacent squares unless using weapons with the reach special property. They must enter an opponent’s square to attack in melee. This movement may provoke an attack of opportunity from the opponent. You can attack into your own square if you need to, so you can attack such creatures normally. Since they have no natural reach, they do not threaten the squares around them. You can thus move past them without provoking attacks of opportunity, and they also can’t flank enemies.
How to Read Stat Blocks - Alignment, Size, Type, and Subtype
A creature’s size determines its space and reach.
How to Read Stat Blocks - Space and Reach
The creature’s space and reach are noted here; if the creature’s space and reach are a 5-foot square and a reach of 5 feet, respectively, this entry is omitted. Any special reach (from weapons or the like) is listed in parentheses.
How to Read a Stat Block - Space and Reach
The creature’s space and reach are noted here if they are other than a 5-foot square and 5 feet (those values are the default). Any special reach (from weapons or the like) is listed in parentheses.
Moving through Occupied Squares - Ending Your Movement
You can’t end your movement in the same square as another creature unless that creature is helpless.
Moving through Occupied Squares - Very Small Creature
A Fine, Diminutive, or Tiny creature can move into or through an occupied square. The creature provokes attacks of opportunity when doing so.
Sorry for the long post, especially for questions that seemingly have common-sense answers. Like I said, I'm just hoping to have something official I can cite to avoid table variation.
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Great questions, wrong forum.
I'll go ahead and flag your post to be moved over to the Rules Questions Forum so it has the best chance of getting the answers it deserves ^_^
That being said, I personally don't see any conflict in the rules. I may be biased having come from Pathfinder, but they read the same way to me, and I would run them the same way as well.
I agree that the Starfinder rules (mostly) read like the Pathfinder rules, and Tiny creatures should probably work like how they did in Pathfinder.
I already tried posting something similar on the rules forum. It got some responses saying basically the same thing you said, but nothing official. Since I could not even get anyone to hit the FAQ button there, I was hoping to get an official ruling for Society play on this forum.
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That's not the job of Starfinder Society Campaign Leadership, though. It would be the job of Starfinder Rules Developers.
This Forum is for questions and discussions concerning the Starfinder Society Organized Play Campaign. Things like Chronicles, Fame, Factions and other Organized Play topics that can't be handled elsewhere.
If you've received the same answers everywhere you've posted thus far, why keep asking? Are you encountering actual table variation on this? I can't even imagine what variation would exist.
I saw a recent thread on this forum where an ambiguity in the Starfinder rules got an official clarification from Thursty, so I thought this was an appropriate place to post. If I was mistaken, then I apologize for cross-posting.
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Indeed. That was an anomaly that surprised me as well (though even he said "this is a pretty fringe case"). But if every rules question is asked here, then there's no point in having a Rules Questions Forum.
I prefer to minimize the times that we give 100% official answers to non-PFS rules questions because that's the domain of the design team.
When it comes to handling bigger concepts such as how light and darkness interact, how a central rules concept operates, or the like, we defer to the design team and prefer that those clarifications go through that team's review and FAQ process
The Rules forum is the best place to get a clarification about a vague rule.
These quotes are from PFS Campaign Leadership, but the same principle applies for SFS.
We don't want Campaign Leadership answering rules questions. We want the rules team doing that. Similarly, we don't want the rules team answering Organized Play questions. We want Campaign Leadership doing that (and developing awesome content!).
Don't get me wrong. I'd like a clear answer as well. Especially if this rule is different from Pathfinder. But the best place to get the answer you deserve, is over in the Rules Questions Forum.