I would only exclude basic facilities from Tiny and Small ships.
Essentially it is saying you need a table and some basic tools to craft, but that a proper tech workshop gives you an advantage
My question would be, why are your players wasting their days with crafting anything? It doesn't save you any credits unless you have house rules and hardness is a side item unless the GM is intentionally trying to destroy their weapons/armor.
Crafting in StarFinder is kinda pointless. Especially considering the amount of "game" time necessary. Do they have days to burn?
I decided to add 4 passenger rooms to my ship for just this reason(arcane lab, science lab, tech shop, + medbay(advanced medkit)...only takes one bay ....also crafting only takes 4 hours in this game unmodified to make anything you can make (1/2 if you have 5 more ranks 1/4 if you have 10 more)...so incredibly fast already ......crafting your own gear really is only important for a few reasons ...hardness thresholds (if you get +2 on a 7 level item and craft it multifold industries style it becomes hardness 32 (9X3 + base 5 = 32) ....and you can craft a weapon in the style of multiple manufactures if you make it yourself (or someone does it for you)..that and sometimes you find some raw star metal its nice to be able to use (though i guess you could just take it to a shop and get a discount on getting one made
My question would be, why are your players wasting their days with crafting anything? It doesn't save you any credits unless you have house rules and hardness is a side item unless the GM is intentionally trying to destroy their weapons/armor.
Crafting in StarFinder is kinda pointless. Especially considering the amount of "game" time necessary. Do they have days to burn?
Crafting gets you exactly what you want and you can do it while travelling in the drift. It's easy to get back to Absalom station, but it will take a long while to get back to wherever you came from.
Also... unless it has been eratta'd:
Creating an item normally has a
base time of 4 hours.
You can get quite a few items built in your shortest interplanetary travel time of 1d6 days.
Crafting is typically faster, more convenient, and customizable compared to buying.
Honestly, unless the campaign doesn't involve travel on a starship I don't see any reason NOT to convert all your credits to UPBs and craft everything.
Crafted items are also more durable and easier to repair. The only reasons not to craft something, is because of extreme time constraints, no access to UPBs, no space to build, or you want something that is a higher level than you have craft ranks.
I don't disagree that crafting can be useful, however outside of unique circumstances there's no real benefit. You can't sell the items you craft as they would be at a MASSIVE loss.
We have been adventuring now for 9 levels and crafting hasn't really come up for anything. We have down time in the drift, but we haven't had a need for anything you could craft or we couldn't improvise to handle.
I think that's one of the places where Paizo just decided to go easy street and do away with another level of complexity.
I don't disagree that crafting can be useful, however outside of unique circumstances there's no real benefit. You can't sell the items you craft as they would be at a MASSIVE loss.
We have been adventuring now for 9 levels and crafting hasn't really come up for anything. We have down time in the drift, but we haven't had a need for anything you could craft or we couldn't improvise to handle.
I think that's one of the places where Paizo just decided to go easy street and do away with another level of complexity.
To be fair you tended to need some weird ability to make money crafting in pathfinder too. You would craft at 50%+occasional materials and you sell at 50%. It let you customize and get ahead on your items by level, in exchange for a large time investment.
In Starfinder it's quick and easy to make what you need when you need it, but it's not gonna save or make you money, and I think that's a good thing. Crafting was an annoying near requirement in Pathfinder, in Starfinder it's a convenience.
While it's never been a compelling reason in our campaign, Armory did give a reasonably valid reason to purchase, rather than buy. Certain manufacturers give a slight advantage to their merchandise (usually on par with the benefits of self-crafted items).
Still, nothing beats the convenience of having what you want when you want it.
Indeed. Our heavy freighter as a synthesis lab in it it's just sad we never really use it.
You can craft in the style of any manufacturer, in fact you can craft a item in the style of multiple manufactures if you make it yourself (or someone does it for you custom)
I don't disagree that crafting can be useful, however outside of unique circumstances there's no real benefit. You can't sell the items you craft as they would be at a MASSIVE loss.
We have been adventuring now for 9 levels and crafting hasn't really come up for anything. We have down time in the drift, but we haven't had a need for anything you could craft or we couldn't improvise to handle.
I think that's one of the places where Paizo just decided to go easy street and do away with another level of complexity.
I'm curious, what kind of system would have liked to see? What would your requirements be?
If crafting gives a significant advantage beyond flexibility of when you can get it, then everything needs to be crafted to be on par with expected encounters. Crafting becomes mandatory, and thus someone is forced to be said crafter. Or else your team is behind.
That is basically the reason Pathfinder society banned crafting feats.
If crafting can make you meaningful amounts of credits, then you run into characters who just want to stay on the ship, make credits, and then go adventuring with twice as much gear as expected.
Basically, because of players generally choosing optimal options, we can't have nice things. :)
There was something to be said for the crafting of magic items requiring questing for rare and hard to obtain ingredients back in the old, old, old days (not 3.5, not 3.0, but 2nd edition). Back then, making the magic item was the adventure. Of course that doesn't really make much sense in a setting like Starfinder.