I've searched for hours and finally decided to post and ask. I've got an Operative player wanting to trick attack with the Handcannon, swagger out of the Armory book.
Handcannon, swagger, 6, 4,350, 1d12, P, 40 ft. Knockdown, 6 shells 1, 1, Analog, free hands (1), unwieldy. pg 15
Trick Attack
Starfinder Core Rulebook pg. 93
You can trick or startle a foe and then attack when she drops
her guard. As a full action, you can move up to your speed. Whether
or not you moved, you can then make an attack with a melee
weapon with the operative special property or with any small
arm. Just before making your attack, attempt a Bluff, Intimidate, or
Stealth check (or a check associated with your specialization; see
page 94) with a DC equal to 20 + your target’s CR. If you succeed
at the check, you deal 1d4 additional damage and the target is
flat-footed. This damage increases to 1d8 at 3rd level, to 3d8 at
5th level, and by an additional 1d8 every 2 levels thereafter. You
can’t use this ability with a weapon that has the unwieldy special
property or that requires a full action to make a single attack.
Unwieldy-
Starfinder Core Rulebook pg. 182
Weapons with the unwieldy special property are large and awkward, can’t be fired without cooling down first, or are otherwise difficult to use with repeated attacks. You can’t use an unwieldy weapon as part of a full attack (or any other action in which you could make multiple attacks), you can’t attack with it more than once per round, and you can’t use it to make an attack of opportunity.
Free Hands
Starfinder Armory book pg. 28
A free hands weapon is unbalanced or otherwise awkward
to use. This difficulty in using the weapon can be negated
by moving the listed number of hands that are not
holding anything or being used for any other purpose as
counterweights. You wield a free hands weapon using the
normal number of hands, but if you have the listed number
of free hands available while wielding it, the weapon is not
considered unwieldy. For example, a kasatha wielding a flame
spinner in two of her hands while her other two hands remain
empty treats the weapon as though it does not have the
unwieldy weapon special property.
I argued that trick attack cannot be performed with the Handcannon since the weapon is unwieldy even though it has an "If" qualifier with Free Hands.
Players use the same argument but fall on the other side. Just looking for some help clarifying. Thanks in advance.
