Unarmored Defense

[Toxicsyn]

How would you design it for SF? As a archetype option, feat, or as a class feature?

Mechanic: When unarmored and unencumbered, the character adds their character level to EAC and their character level +2 to KAC.

Here is also a feat that supports the mechanic.

Improved Defense (Combat Feat)
Stuff written here.
Prerequisite: Unarmored Defense, character level 4th
Benefit: The character gains a +1 bonus to KAC and EAC. This bonus increases by 1 for every four character levels thereafter, up to a maximum of +5 at 20th level.

[Garretmander]

First of all, I would make sure that is scales so that it's roughly equal to a suit of armor at level -2 or -3 after applying max dex for that level, so that it's never better to spend a feat or whatever than to buy/loot armor around your level.

What you've written so far is better than the best light armor, and for a dex based character is better than heavy armor.

So, I'd leave it as exactly one feat, but it would be a feat for a backup option, not a primary option.

[Pantshandshake]

Step two would probably be to homebrew some sort of environmental protection item, since you're losing that aspect of armor.

[Toxicsyn]

I did some further research, and I'm surprised that there is no option for unarmored character builds. I know that SF is designed to keep PCs within a specific range of game values, and to ensure that many of those require PCs to get regular upgrades of equipment to create balanced PCs; but it is missing a element of the genre that PF1 and PF2 actually has.

Unarmored Heroes.

So the main problem I noticed with unarmored defense is it is competing against armor. Armors that PCs need to purchase every time they increase up in level. So it's about making sure the PC expends their resources. The solution I found was in Powered Armor (i.e, the ability to expend resources to increase powered armor's defense).

Unarmored Defense (Combat)
You took some defensive training classes.
Benefit: Characters receive a +1 bonus to their KAC while unarmored and unencumbered.
Special: Characters can improve their unarmored defense by training to become more effective starting at character level 3. This is either done through purchasing training equipment and tutorials, skillsoft uploads, finding the services of a professional freelancer to train under, or through various magical rituals. It costs a number of credits equal to the character level x 500 to improve the character's EAC and KAC by 1, and takes at least 24 hours for each improvement gained. At 6th level, the cost increases by character level x 1,000. At 9th level, x 2,000. 12th level, x 4,000. 15th level, x 8,000. 18th level, x 16,000. And 20th level, x 32,000.

If the character level is evenly divisible by 5, the bonus to EAC and KAC increase by 2 each instead. Unarmored defense can't be improved beyond 20th level.

Design Note: Characters that rely on unarmored defense do not have any of the perks of armor. This means no environmental protection, anchoring boots, built in comm units, or armor upgrades. Characters would need to find alternate methods to acquire these benefits.

[Metaphysician]

And by the time you've made up for all the lost utilities of wearing actual armor, you've saved neither time nor money. Hence why Starfinder doesn't support it. If you want to play a game where people regularly run around naked in space, you need a system that isn't based so heavily on the D&D chassis. Yes, it means you can't really do the classic "stripped of gear" mission, but those kind of missions generally work for crap in an RPG environment most of the time, anyway.

If you want to provide more support for such, my inclination is to just give every PC a base "unarmored defense" equal to 10 + BAB. Its a little generous, but 99% every PC will want to wear armor anyway, because armor will be significantly better. The remaining 1% will be people still convinced that if you can't block 90% of attacks then you might as well go naked. The best way to deal with that is to just have your enemies keep shooting them until they are disabused of this mistaken notion.

[Dracomicron]

I almost think that an unarmored combatant should be an archetype. Give away class features in return for the freedom from a certain subset of gear. At higher levels you develop resistance to the void or radiation or whatnot. Still probably cheaper to just wear normal armor, but some bonuses can be figured out that would fill the triparte need to differentiate them from armored characters, allow them to operate in the same scenarios, and be worth giving up class features.

[Pantshandshake]

Toxicsyn wrote:

I did some further research, and I'm surprised that there is no option for unarmored character builds. I know that SF is designed to keep PCs within a specific range of game values, and to ensure that many of those require PCs to get regular upgrades of equipment to create balanced PCs; but it is missing a element of the genre that PF1 and PF2 actually has.

It works pretty well in a game where armor is, barring enchantments and such, just a way to get AC. You can do a Monk and add wis to AC, increase the AC at certain level intervals, bake it into class bonuses, natural armor, spells, etc.

It's kind of out of place in a game where you need armor just to go outside in a fair amount of the setting, not to mention it's how many people communicate, and where everyone stores a good portion of fancy items (armor mods.)

[Metaphysician]

Dracomicron wrote:

I almost think that an unarmored combatant should be an archetype. Give away class features in return for the freedom from a certain subset of gear. At higher levels you develop resistance to the void or radiation or whatnot. Still probably cheaper to just wear normal armor, but some bonuses can be figured out that would fill the triparte need to differentiate them from armored characters, allow them to operate in the same scenarios, and be worth giving up class features.

This, by contrast, sounds like a good idea to me. Though I would have the archetype emphasize that its less "I want to go unarmored" and more "I want to swim unimpeded in the depths of the cosmos". Call it 'Void Dancer' or something like that. If I were building it, I'd probably emphasize a mix of better-than-armor environmental protection, and some all-purpose movement mode options.

[Ixal]

Considering things like Second Skin I do not think being completely unarmored is needed in SF.

There are already some (overpowered) environmental protection items in AA3.