Why do spells only go up to level 6 in Starfinder?

[Yqatuba]

Did magic just get less powerful at some point?

[BigNorseWolf]

*tongue in cheek* Starfinder spells don't have components, so everyone is always casting silent still spelled spells without material components reducing the potency */tongue in cheek*

There's no out of game reason for it (at least none that won't be even sillier than that one) , They just wanted to tone magic down a bit so it wasn't outshining the rest of the game.

[Dracomicron]

Magic is just as powerful.

It's just less granular. A 6th level spell in Starfinder is an 8th or a 9th level spell in Pathfinder. The tiers have been streamlined.

Also keep in mind that most technology has magical components of some sort. It's everywhere. Starfinder is a way more magical setting overall than Pathfinder, because they've effectively industrialized it. It's not isolated wizards crafting magic items in towers, it's gigantic factories using technomagical theorems to mass produce enchantments.

Magic for the people, not the elite.

[Xeall]

Disentergrate, LvL 6

14d20 damage.

Magic is not weaker.

[SirShua]

However planar binding goes upto cr 10, not 18 HD. But This game's power word kill (snuff life) targets creatures per level.

Magic has been relatively rebalanced I find, and while these casters we have play more like half casters, look like they'll be the standard for full spell casting classes.

[GeneticDrift]

Spells already go beyond 6 with wish and miracle. This is just in the current rule books i am sure more options will be printed as the rules grow.

[Metaphysician]

In my judgement, 7th-9th level spells just aren't regularly learned by casters, anymore. Its not that they don't exist or are impossible, its that in 99% of situations where a 7th-9th level spell would be useful, you are far better "building" it via technomagical industry ( or flat out technological substitutes ) rather than spending the incredible effort learning to cast it. Nobody spends 20 years learning arcane magic to cast Meteor Swarm, when you can just buy artillery, and nobody learns to cast Gate when you can just build a Gate instead. Instead, Mystics and Technomancers learn other useful skills that better contribute to their capacity for adventure. Like how to actually use decent weapons and armor, and various supplementary powers and abilities.

In fact, given how generous and flexible the crafting rules are, it might be better think of magic as being much stronger. All you need to create almost any plausible effect are enough ranks in the Mysticism skill ( or perhaps Mysticism + Engineering ), a lab, and a stack of UPBs. Sure, it might need to be quite a big stack, if your trying to build a Gate, but its still a lot easier and more flexible than magic item crafting in Pathfinder.

( Oh, and before anyone says "But Timestop!" or whatnot, this is called "Some spells were just plain broken, Starfinder fixes this". It wouldn't have these spells in original unbroken form under a 9-level system, either. )

[Captain J.T. Kirk]

There is the Meta answer or the in world answer/excuse

The Meta answer is in short game balance. Magic users (even minor ones) eventually out power characters that do not get magical abilities. So Starfinder was an opportunity to town down the power of magic, hence 6th level spells. ALTHOUGH most if not all of the 7-9 spell still exist, they are just either now 6th level spells, OR treated as class abilities to further limit their use.

The in game/lore excuse/justification is that is it much easier and more practical to create a mechanical/Magic-Tech device to do the same thing that a very rare high level spell caster could do.

Why try and track down one of the rare 1% of wizards that can cast the Gate spell when you can just build a Stargate?

[TheLoneCleric]

I like the answer that 'hybrid' (magic/tech) blends just got so powerful they became more economical to use than over specialized one shot uber spells.

[Noven]

I don't like how wish and miracle are in the books but not really attainable.

[The Sideromancer]

Because 6th-level casters worked pretty darn well in PF.

[The Goat Lord]

Much of the old spell effects can be replicated by technology and hybrid items. Also, magic-users can lean on powerful ranged attacks in the form of guns. Magic's role in the game world hasn't been replaced, but brought in line with technology and more efficient means of accomplishing the same tasks.

[Name Violation]

Noven wrote:

I don't like how wish and miracle are in the books but not really attainable.

They just require 2 6th level spell slots and a high enough level

[Metaphysician]

Or a high end magical factory. ;)

( Well, okay, probably more like a boutique workshop, I doubt anybody actually mass produces Cubes of Wishes. . . )