So, the game assumes that everyone is getting augmentations sooner or later, right? For example, melee characters are VERY encouraged to get things like Force Soles, and it's hard to have enough slots on your character to spend your wealth without delving into the system.
Do you think it's possible that Starfinder encourages body modification too much? Like, in Shadowrun there's a whole tradeoff system ensuring some characters don't feel the need to delve. In Star Trek very few people are augmented. In Star Wars many of the augmentations are just to replace lost functionality.
There are certainly character types that are super into this kind of stuff, don't get me wrong, but it feels like it's a bit too encouraged for everyone. This makes characters who don't necessarily want to modify their bodies feel punished, and characters who want to be all kitted out feel less unique.
The Evolutionist having a partial focus on augmentations falls flat for me specifically because of how common augmentations are for everyone.
I'm wondering if anyone else kind of feels like augmentations shouldn't be so casually required. I think I'm genuinely interested in significantly reducing the prevalence of augmentation, but I'm not sure if my outlook isn't colored by the fact that translating augmentations to PF2 is a bit of a headache and I want to run Starfinder in PF2.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I don't find it weird, but I've also seen plenty of characters get by with just personal upgrades and maybe a speed suspension.
They work more siilarly to magic items than magic items do| there are slots and if you want to tweak the power level of an augmentation you can put it in an important slot
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Other than personal upgrades (which have an explicit option to be a magical "boost" like the PF1 inherent bonuses instead of cybertech "ware") and speed suspension, plus maybe a couple low-level augmentations like a datajack or retinal reflectors, there aren't any real "must-have" augmentations (IMO) outside of augmentation-heavy concepts or for characters that want a very specific benefit. Armor materials and upgrades, plus spells via self/other PCs, a spelltrower weapon fusion, etc. can provide options that are just as good or even better in many cases.
Also, since Starfinder is science fantasy, readily available augmentation is a common trope for a setting with advanced tech.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Force Soles Mk2 uber alles
It's just that ubiquitous in the setting. And quite optional, personal augmentations aside.
What's surprising, to me, is that while we have the Augmented and other enthusiasts on one end of the spectrum, we don't know of a group or faction of virulent opponents to the very idea of augmentations. No Cult of the Pure Form, no augment-luddites or whatever.
The average halfling is not a fan of augmentations, but mostly for their own self and cares little what others do with that.
That's about as far as that goes : "meh, not for me, don't need it."
Unless I'm forgetting some ideological faction, which I quite well could be.
I see the idea of the augmentations as a Sci-Fi version of magic items. I can't imagine someone playing a Pathfinder character from level 1 to level 20 and never, ever ending up with a magic item of some sort. Same goes for a Starfinder character and augments.
On top of that, I say it is not all that different from our modern society. The haves, those with money, at some point of another all turn to plastic surgery to help try and maintain their above average status. Why not augments for those who can afford them?
Course that is just my take on it.
As much as I love cyberpunk it's never crossed my mind to add augmentations to one of my characters yet in Starfinder, the non-human races are so interesting on their own, I'm too busy exploring those aspects of my character.
I hope you're at least taking Personal Upgrades, as the math pretty much expects it.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
As much as I love cyberpunk it's never crossed my mind to add augmentations to one of my characters yet in Starfinder, the non-human races are so interesting on their own, I'm too busy exploring those aspects of my character.
I usually pay the 10 percent surcharge and just get biological upgrades. That gives you the ability without having to go all cyberpunk.
|
As much as I love cyberpunk it's never crossed my mind to add augmentations to one of my characters yet in Starfinder, the non-human races are so interesting on their own, I'm too busy exploring those aspects of my character.I hope you're at least taking Personal Upgrades, as the math pretty much expects it.
Sadly no, I just make 1st level characters up for fun, never met anyone that plays Starfinder or Pathfinder so have never leveled up, I should try making higher-level characters.
The whole reason I wanted to get back in to TTRPGs after years of game development in second life was to get away from the computer. I work in a grocery store with a constantly changing schedule, took me 6 months to get a day off when there was an open pathfinder society game at the LGS, but that was the week all the covid lockdowns started... I can't plan or schedule anything that makes gaming almost impossible. Mostly I just build maps and write adventures no one will ever see.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Have you tried organized play games online? I know you wanted to be away from the computer but its the next best thing till covid goes away completely. On the other hand theorycrafting characters isn't done outside either so....
The discord is pfschat.com . I have a newbie game thursday evening (east coast us time) with room if you want to give it a shot.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Sadly no, I just make 1st level characters up for fun, never met anyone that plays Starfinder or Pathfinder so have never leveled up, I should try making higher-level characters.The whole reason I wanted to get back in to TTRPGs after years of game development in second life was to get away from the computer. I work in a grocery store with a constantly changing schedule, took me 6 months to get a day off when there was an open pathfinder society game at the LGS, but that was the week all the covid lockdowns started... I can't plan or schedule anything that makes gaming almost impossible. Mostly I just build maps and write adventures no one will ever see.
Yeah, I was not in favor of gaming online, either, but when the alternative is not gaming at all, I made the calculation that I could learn to enjoy it. And I did!
Highly recommend Big Norse Wolf's game, if you can find time in your schedule. BNW is a great GM and will help you through your first session.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Highly recommend Big Norse Wolf's game, if you can find time in your schedule. BNW is a great GM and will help you through your first session.
I see SOMEONE wants their character to live....
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I see SOMEONE wants their character to live....
Highly recommend Big Norse Wolf's game, if you can find time in your schedule. BNW is a great GM and will help you through your first session.
I'm not immune to hedging my bets.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Have you tried organized play games online? I know you wanted to be away from the computer but its the next best thing till covid goes away completely. On the other hand theorycrafting characters isn't done outside either so....
The discord is pfschat.com . I have a newbie game thursday evening (east coast us time) with room if you want to give it a shot.
Thanks for the invite, Think you are right I need to get over the get-away from the computer part. The big thing holding me back is I don't have a mic for my computer, but now I'm motivated to get one and get set up for online play. Won't have time to get set up this week, but hopefully for a future game. Do you run your game every Thursday? I don't have every Thursday off but it seems to be a more common day I do get off.
|
|
Sadly no, I just make 1st level characters up for fun, never met anyone that plays Starfinder or Pathfinder so have never leveled up, I should try making higher-level characters.The whole reason I wanted to get back in to TTRPGs after years of game development in second life was to get away from the computer. I work in a grocery store with a constantly changing schedule, took me 6 months to get a day off when there was an open pathfinder society game at the LGS, but that was the week all the covid lockdowns started... I can't plan or schedule anything that makes gaming almost impossible. Mostly I just build maps and write adventures no one will ever see.
Yeah, I was not in favor of gaming online, either, but when the alternative is not gaming at all, I made the calculation that I could learn to enjoy it. And I did!
Highly recommend Big Norse Wolf's game, if you can find time in your schedule. BNW is a great GM and will help you through your first session.
Thanks for the recommendation, hope to someday be able to make the same recommendation....if my character lives ;)
|
|
I'm wondering if anyone else kind of feels like augmentations shouldn't be so casually required. I think I'm genuinely interested in significantly reducing the prevalence of augmentation, but I'm not sure if my outlook isn't colored by the fact that translating augmentations to PF2 is a bit of a headache and I want to run Starfinder in PF2.
I think it adds more flavor to the game if every location, be it city or planet doesn't have the same ability, prevalence, and acceptance of augmentations. It becomes a bit overkill if you can walk into a room and determine everyone's level solely by scanning the room to get a count of how many augmentations each one has.
There's a quote in johnny mnemonic I like "If they expect high tech, go low. If they expect low, go high."
I'd love to mix Starfinder and PF2, to avoid doing all the work I was thinking of running it more like Starfinder vs PF2. where the PCs are all Starfinder characters using Starfinder rules, they go to a planet where all the NPC are from PF2 running PF2 rules. The idea was to run it like Edge of Tomorrow. All the NPC stay the same level but the PCs keep returning when they die eventually leveling up until they can take on the NPCs. would all so be interesting because the PCs would get to retry encounters using different tactics each time making it a great way to learn teamwork for the party. Just a crazy idea had.
No, Augments are [Pathfinder equivalent] grafts, not wondrous items.
Fantasy characters can have magical grafts yes, but that's not an assumption like magical rings and armor are.
My characters run the full spectrum from nearly unaugmented (Gill Sheath has come up a few times, bio-chained Darkvision capacitors another few).
Two of my characters would be 'proto-evolutionists'. One has their sentient experimental exocortex modifying her body regularly (paying the cost for augmentation),
The other made a Deal with the Fae and she wakes up with something New (paying cost for bio-chain augmentation).
Don't have any characters just staring at Aug catalogues YET.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Apart from the personal upgrades (which can be flavored as cybernetics, biotech, or magic) I don't see augmentations as a "must have" option. They're just one of many ways to spend your credits to enhance your character's capabilities.
Of my 7 SFS characters:
* My human daredevil operative has avoided augmentations out of personal choice, except for personal upgrades (one cyber, one magic--biotech is right out!) and the free implant from The Commencement. She prides herself on her inborn talents and highly trained skills--many of which involve using tech, given the setting, but it's all stuff she uses, rather than stuff she is.
* My android technomancer has started taking a few augmentations--magical personal upgrades, and a couple of cybernetics (datajack and voice modulator), befitting the two sides of their class. I doubt they'll get more than a handful, ever, though that may change when they get access to high-level magitech.
* My copaxi solarian has the most augmentations so far, and for flavor reasons, they're all biotech. After all, they started as a colony of polyps with specialized functions, so why not tweak a few to grow in useful new ways?
* The other four are only 1st-2nd level, so I'm still pretty undecided whether any of them will pursue augmentations. Only one has any so far (the Commencement freebie).
The one character I've played outside OP only took a personal upgrade. He was a mechanic with the experimental armor prototype option, so most of his cash went into upgrading that regularly.
