Can Technomancer's Fabricate Explosive magic hack create hybrid grenades?

[Xenocrat]

Fabricate Explosive magic hack wrote:

As a full action, you can expend an unused spell slot to

concentrate its magical power into a grenade-like matrix of
volatile energy. This fabricated explosive can mimic any grenade
with an item level equal to or less than the level of the expended
spell slot × 3, to a maximum of your caster level. This grenadelike
item remains a spell-like ability with a spell level equal to the
level of the spell slot you expended, and it cannot be augmented
or affected by abilities that affect technological devices or
weapons. This explosive is unstable; only you can use it, and
you must throw it within a number of rounds equal to the level
of the expended spell slot or it dissipates harmlessly. You are
considered proficient with the grenade for this attack. Once you
have used this ability, you can’t use it again until you rest for 10
minutes and expend 1 Resolve Point to recover Stamina Points.

The issue is what does "any grenade" mean?

Page 126 of Armory includes hybrid grenades that work exactly as grenades, but also have special magical effects. However, they appear under the hybrid items section, not in the grenades subsection of weapons.

If these are allowed it effectively lets this magic hack simulate or copy several spells known, including Summon Creature, Resilient Sphere (++), Dispel Magic (-), Handy Junkbot, Healing Junkbot, and Microbot Swarm (+). That's pretty damn powerful and flexible for an 8th level hack, but it is limited to 1 use per stamina rest.

[Magyar5]

My ruling is that it says any grenade. ANY meaning as in all types, varieties, variants, permutations, derived etc... Grenade meaning... Grenade ( as in the category of weapon type).

So yes, hybrid grenades would be allowed for this hack. It's interesting and unique without being over powering or game breaking.

[ParaheliZ]

I'd note that some of the hybrid grenades (specifically the holo grenage, junkbot grenade, and summoning grenade) specify specific caster levels, which I'm assuming would apply to these mimicked grenades, as it is mimicking the grenade precisely.

So, while you can get the benefits from spells you don't know, in most cases they'll probably be somewhat weaker than if you had actually known them and cast them yourself, especially if you are using anything other than one of your most powerful slots.

[Xenocrat]

Thanks for the comments. After thinking about the action economy (one full round to create, followed by a standard action to throw within a limited window) it seems like it has ok balance given the other limitations.

[Magyar5]

This, to me, seems like an ability that would be most potent when used in a preparatory manner. If you are likely to enter into combat, you could spend a round prior to combat creating the grenade you may feel is most effective for that combat.

[Xenocrat]

Magyar5 wrote:

This, to me, seems like an ability that would be most potent when used in a preparatory manner. If you are likely to enter into combat, you could spend a round prior to combat creating the grenade you may feel is most effective for that combat.

Definitely, it works with ambushes. All the "create something" hacks, like Fabricate Tech and Fabricate Weapon, have poor action economy if used in combat, you definitely want to create them in advance or only use them when they solve an urgent or specialized need that can't be accomplished by other resources.

[Broccolihead]

the "grenade expert" ability of a bombardier soldier follows the same rules without the use of a spell slot. I would allow soldiers to use hybrid grenades in home games, is this legal for starfinder society?

[HammerJack]

Nothing in the rules of the ability, the description of the grenades or the SFS Additional Resources document says no.

So, yes. Totally legit to use bombardier style to make a mystical soldier who creates spell grenades.

[Xenocrat]

RAW the bombardier can do it - if a Technomancer can. I want to say he can’t do it because he’d need mysticism ranks to make one normally, but he’d also need engineering ranks to make a regular grenade and the ability clearly bypasses that requirement.

It’s still extra weird to believe a soldier has learned to cobble junk together into devices that can be tuned to summon extraplanar monsters that obey him. I’m now convinced that neither of these abilities should work with hybrid grenades - a “grenade” for these purposes is limited to the grenade section in the weapons charts.

[Broccolihead]

Armory Pg 126:

"A grenade becomes a hybrid grenade when a technological
casing houses magical components that can be activated like
any other grenade."

So... nobody is telling me i can't. A soldier can become an arcane assailant, its not like the mysteries of magic are forbidden to them.

[Metaphysician]

Its important to note that, in setting, *everything* pretty much involves magic at some level. The distinction between "magic" and "not magic" is not a solid one, a "non-magical" technology just does not rely on magical forces to a critical level. Its not any more implausible that a soldier has learned how to construct grenades from magical parts and principles, than that he learned to construct grenades from scientific parts and principles. Both are taught in all the best engineering schools and textbooks.