Nuclear Tools upgrade question

[Kait'lax]

I have a 10th level character with the Staff of Nuclear Vengeance. The boon says it can be upgraded with 16500 UPBs and either being an Izalguun with 11 ranks in Engineering or spending 3 Fame. If you choose the latter, do you need to be 11th level yourself to buy the upgrade? It would meet the level+2 criteria for a chronicle sheet item, but it is not something I could do yet by being Izalguun.

[Belafon]

I just noticed the weirdness of the phrasing in the boon.

Spoiler:

If you are an izalguun with 11 ranks in Engineering, you can spend 16,500 UPBs to upgrade the weapon to a Level 11 item, doubling both of its base damage dice (2d6 to 4d6 melee, 2d4 to 4d4 small arm). If you are not an izalguun, you may perform the same upgrade by spending 3 Fame to work with an izalguun Starfinder.

You can read the second option as not requiring any UPBs, just 3 Fame. Which is a REALLY good conversion rate. Well, at least for those characters who still have Fame.

Hopefully we can get an official answer on:
1) If a non-izalguun needs 11 ranks in Engineering.
2) If a non-izalguun needs to spend the UPBs.
3) How can a non-izalguun upgrade this without Fame (since no one earns fame anymore)?

[Jared Thaler - Personal Opinion]

Belafon wrote:

I just noticed the weirdness of the phrasing in the boon.

** spoiler omitted **

You can read the second option as not requiring any UPBs, just 3 Fame. Which is a REALLY good conversion rate. Well, at least for those characters who still have Fame.

Hopefully we can get an official answer on:
1) If a non-izalguun needs 11 ranks in Engineering.
2) If a non-izalguun needs to spend the UPBs.
3) How can a non-izalguun upgrade this without Fame (since no one earns fame anymore)?

I think it is pretty clear that the fame obviates the need for the ranks and race, but not the UBP (since that would not be "the same upgrade")

Hopefully when the boon gets updated to add to the web page, that will get changed to an additional ACP purchase.

[BigNorseWolf]

TOO good of a reading. Being an izzlegun is supposed to be an advantage, not lock you out of a huge credit deal. Since that is both the more likely reading AND the less permissive reading, go with that.

Its [ 16500 UPBs And (3 fame to hire an izzlegun engineer with 11 ranks OR Be an izzlegun engineer with 11 ranks)]

Added it to the list of season 4 broke my _____ thread

[Belafon]

Oh, I totally agree that you should have to spend the UPBs either way. But I also know how certain players love to parse language in beneficial ways.

Spoiler:

Munchkin wrote:

NO, the upgrade is the increased damage dice. It specifically says I can "perform the upgrade by spending 3 Fame." If they wanted me to spend the UPBs as well, it would have been written as "perform the upgrade by spending 16,500 UPBs and 3 Fame..." YOU are adding in words that don't exist.