I finally got a chance to play STARFINDER last Sunday and I had fun. The GM gave me a technomage pregen from the online files and at the end said that I had earned 1 XP which I could apply to a character that I made sometime.
I really enjoyed the technomage and was thinking about keeping all of the stats, spells, abilities, etc., unchanged and just continuing to play that character from there.
So my question is: are the pregen characters Society legal as-is, or did they "cheat" in creation in order to give a new player more stuff to do than the rules allow?
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You can use them as-is if you wish for the first 3 sessions (level 1). From there you would need to change to fit level 2.
I also suggest changing the name as well.
You could even use three separate pre-gens and try out different classes until you get 3 xp and then level up the one you like best.
Totally your call, but the pre-gens are legal for play technically speaking.
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I had a table where someone had a (non-pregen) lashunta mechanic named "Raia," and it confused everybody ("wait you're not a technomancer?"). Turned out he just looked at the sample names for lashuntas in the book and picked the name at random.
But yeah, it is probably a better idea to make a character from scratch with a different name to prevent confusion. You can basically make the same choices that were made for the pregen, but remember that the pregens have versions at 1st, 4th, 6th, and 8th levels, if I recall correctly, but not the levels between.
Okay, so I think that answers what I wanted to know. I agree that changing the name to make it a "new" character is a good idea, but I was thinking about just keeping the exact same choices as the pregen for this character. Later on, once I'm more familiar with the rules, I will probably go through those choices myself to make one from scratch.
I just wanted to be sure that if I played the pregen for 3 sessions then tried to level it up, that there wouldn't be some rules lawyer saying "hold up, you can't use that build for a character" or some such. :)
Venture-Lieutenant, Minnesota—Minneapolis
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I don’t see anything illegal in the Technomancer and after an adventure you should have more than enough money to purchase the equipment she has.
You should still do the equipment purchases and inventory tracking for your version of Raia. I would suggest adding a pistol to her equipment, just in case of energy resistances.
Second session of STARFINDER went well. Still finding the whole "purchase the equipment" process a little strange, but we did an adventure that had a mix of space combat and exploration and land combat. Very fun.
My local game store is running weekly demo games all through July, so I anticipate getting to play another couple of times this month. :-)
If I understand correctly, it is an official StarFinder Society game. The GMs have given me papers with XP on them.
One thing that is either confusing or frustrating is that the GM yesterday asked if I had a profession, and I said that I hadn't picked anything like that yet. Another guy at the table had one and got to roll for more money earned. Do I just lose that opportunity, or can I make "catch up" rolls later on when I pick a profession?
If I understand correctly, it is an official StarFinder Society game. The GMs have given me papers with XP on them.
One thing that is either confusing or frustrating is that the GM yesterday asked if I had a profession, and I said that I hadn't picked anything like that yet. Another guy at the table had one and got to roll for more money earned. Do I just lose that opportunity, or can I make "catch up" rolls later on when I pick a profession?
You have to make the roll during the session, so no catch up rolls in other sessions. If you did happen to have a profession skill at the time and just didn't realize it, you could in principle go to the GM and explain you made a mistake, and ask him to update the sheet (along with rolling in front of him).
However, I don't believe the Technomancer pre-gen has a skill rank in a profession skill, so if you're basically playing Raia, then you lost the opportunity.
Note, you can rebuild a character any time before your play them at level 2, so if you wanted to switch one of her skills ranks over to a profession skill, you could, but that would only help you going forward.
On the other hand, after a few levels, the credit amount tends to be small. Its useful for a spare healing serum here and there, but thats about it. For characters with only a few skill ranks, its perfectly fine not to have a profession skill.
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After I realized that Profession = + Money, I threw skill points into it for all of my characters going forward, though my soldier could only spare one point (great fighter, not a great professional mercenary).
It can stack up, especially when you are at a table that has RSP support and buys enough stuff from the store so that you get to roll twice, take the higher roll, and then triple (instead of double) it to get your extra credits.
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If I understand correctly, it is an official StarFinder Society game. The GMs have given me papers with XP on them.
One thing that is either confusing or frustrating is that the GM yesterday asked if I had a profession, and I said that I hadn't picked anything like that yet. Another guy at the table had one and got to roll for more money earned. Do I just lose that opportunity, or can I make "catch up" rolls later on when I pick a profession?
You lose it. The good news is that it really isn't a lot of credits compared to what you'll earn in your career.
Good to know, but still frustrating when I feel like I'm still trying to figure out all of the details of the game … setting, character creation, how the mechanics differ from other RPGs I've played, etc. … and along the way I miss out on potential "freebies."
So ... how do I know what is a "profession" skill? Raia can do computers and engineering and that kind of thing, so why wouldn't that be her profession in between adventues?
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If you haven't done so, I'd recommend downloading the free Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide:
http://paizo.com/products/btpy9vlp?Starfinder-Society-Roleplaying-Guild-Gui de
In there it explains on page 45 that only the various versions of the Profession skill qualify (since they generally don't come up much otherwise in play). The Profession skill and its sub-types are described on page 146 of the core rulebook. These are skills like Profession (actor) or Profession (Mathematician).
So a profession skill is literally just Profession (something).
The reason computers and engineering don't count is for balance. It gives people a reason to add more to their back story without just sacrificing skill ranks to no in game benefit. Computers and Engineering are already very useful in society play and will generally be used multiple times a session. Profession (mathematician) might come up once in 100 scenerios.
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Good to know, but still frustrating when I feel like I'm still trying to figure out all of the details of the game … setting, character creation, how the mechanics differ from other RPGs I've played, etc. … and along the way I miss out on potential "freebies."
So ... how do I know what is a "profession" skill? Raia can do computers and engineering and that kind of thing, so why wouldn't that be her profession in between adventues?
In the rules under profession skill
A Profession skill should not overlap with existing skills. For example, if you want to play a scientist, you should put ranks into Life Science or Physical Science rather than create a Profession (scientist) skill. The GM is the final arbiter of what is a good choice for a Profession skill and what ability score a given Profession skill is keyed to.
There is a LOT to know and a lot of it is spread around I've tried to condense the important stuff here.
But you are NOT going to get everything at once. Its going to have to come slowly. Give it some time.
Yeah, the pregens are for 1st, 4th, 8th, and there is an "all levels" file for each. I haven't had time to look at everything, but I did download it.
Oh, and BigNorseWolf, thanks for your link. I downloaded your "what you need to know" file as well. :)
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Well, that's pretty much what I'm doing so far. Play and try to absorb as much as I can in a short timespan. And I keep asking questions. So far the GM's have been cool about answering them, too! :D
There are some scheduling conflicts this month at my local store and my main 5E Adventurer's League game isn't happening, so I took advantage of the chance to experience StarFinder instead. (I've gotten to play two games already, with two more on the calendar.)
I'm hoping they can find a way to start a regular campaign which isn't on Sunday so that it doesn't have to go head-to-head with AL because I'd really like to play both and I hate it when I have to choose.