My only real issue as a GM is that I would have to find appropriate levels and prices for all that gear...
I'm pretty sure you can reproduce all of these abilities through equipment and cybernetics.
A quick glance through the list, I'd disallow the improved armor mod, the speed mod, and the weapon mount mod.
Just about everything else can be recreated with currently existing armor upgrades or cybernetics, so I'd just point your player to those.
I don't know why your player wants a double flight mod over the much superior force soles, but... I'd probably require it to take two cybernetic slots, not only one. There are no ways for a PC to get perfect flight, even if perfect flight isn't that good in starfinder. You still need a swift action to hover, and that stops full actions.
Honestly, as a GM I'd just tell all my players that they can flavor any augments as any version of magic, biotech, cybernetics, mechanical augment, etc because it has almost no mechanical impact.
I think maybe there is some stuff that can turn off cybernetics/magic but it's super rare and unlikely to ever show up.
And thinking on it further, I think the abilities that do turn off technology actually mention specifically that cybernetic augments are shielded due to the body surrounding them and aren't affected.
You still need a swift action to hover, and that stops full actions.
Wasn't this fixed in an FAQ/Errata? You can hover as no action if you have perfect or 5 ranks in acrobatics and average?
Honestly, as a GM I'd just tell all my players that they can flavor any augments as any version of magic, biotech, cybernetics, mechanical augment, etc because it has almost no mechanical impact.
I wouldn't... There's definitely a mechanical effect lol. Between manufacturer mods and special materials, there are pros and cons to any variety of augmentation. Plus biotech is 10% more expensive than cybernetic. And necrografts are 90% of the price of a retail biotech or cybernetic.
Don't get me wrong, the difference isn't huge or game breaking in my opinion, but it is there for mostly a reason lol.
Yeah, but you don't have to use manufacturer mods or special materials. Or rather you don't have to allow them.
What I'm saying is there's no reason to force the pressurized lungs biotech augment to only be biotech.
So if you as a GM want to force a player to spend 10% more to have a cybernetic augment be biotic instead...it's not going to break anything. Though I wouldn't, even though that might technically be the rule. Likewise would you make it 10% cheaper if there's a biotech augment that's turned into a cybernetic?
Really, if you use just a smidgen of common sense there's no mechanical effect that isn't easy to adjudicate.
Instead of pressurized lungs being a biotech item, it's now a cybernetic enhancement. Costs the same, works exactly the same, but now it's flavor is different.
That's all were doing here, flavor change. No price change, no function change.
Aside from biotech being more expensive for no real reason, and necrografts being less expensive but with (maybe) a very small drawback there isn't any real difference between the varieties.
There's really no reason to prevent re-flavoring. Hell, the most offensive example is necrografts being cheaper, but that's literally just a part of the rules.
Don't allow people to convert necrograft only effects to non-necrograft stuff without the price increase and you're gonna be fine.
I was pretty much only talking about armor mods and cybernetics, not biotech or magitech.
There's really no reason to prevent re-flavoring. Hell, the most offensive example is necrografts being cheaper, but that's literally just a part of the rules.
You just have to watch out with abilities that depend on a specific type of augmentation. If anything can be cybernetics, then the instant upgrade spell becomes insanely more OP lol. There are a few interactions like that.
As a whole though, I agree there's no problem with reflavoring.
I think the player intended to forgo wearing normal armor in favor of installed parts that would part of day to day body. Ie always part of their body but no armor suits ever
You really can't get away with that for more than a few levels, and even then, only on backline characters.
Now, buying armor and reflavoring it as 'armor plating for their robot body' is a thing that can definitely be done.
As long as you know the character won't be disruptive go for it, but there are a lot of armor upgrades that have sweet sweet benefits the drone mods don't. Personally I'd recommend she buy 'armor plating' armor just to avoid problems down the line, but that can be done at any workbench with 4 hours of work, so... it's not like it'll become an unfixable problem.
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The design philosophy of Starfinder is that all races can use all player options, unless specifically identified.
SROs should not be superior or inferior in this regard. They're already VERY strong as it is, with no weak ability score and several free augmentations.
I would contend, like others on this thread, that anything you want to do with drone mods can sufficiently be copied with other augmentations, armor upgrades, and the like.
My Society SRO, Dragonbot, has multiclassed from Soldier to Experimental Armor Prototype Mechanic, and views his armor (and eventually, power armor) as an extension of his own body (if a robot plugs into a robot suit, it's basically just a larger robot). He looks forward to eventually being a gargantuan dragon robot that burninates the countryside.
That said, Exocortex Mechanics can install drone mods when they get high enough level. A SRO that wants drone mods can, you know, do that.
]You really can't get away with that for more than a few levels, and even then, only on backline characters.
Now, buying armor and reflavoring it as 'armor plating for their robot body' is a thing that can definitely be done.
Most of my characters are in the backline, and they go from 1-7 or 8 before an armor upgrade no problem. Even the melee rogues managed to do that without too many issues. A six pack of healing serums is a lot cheaper than level 3 armor. The only reason to upgrade being the radiation protection and the armor upgrade slots.
Eh if it's a home game I don't really see an issue with it so long as the player is willing to dial back on it if it starts disrupting the game to the point of making it unenjoyable for the rest of the group. Balance & the intention of the developers fall a fair bit behind fun in terms of importance.