Rule question from Fly Free or Die

[Erik Valens]

I am trying to understand the reason why the DC check for finding and selling cargo is harder when you are a higher level. That seems counter-intuitive to me. Am I seeing something wrong, or what is the reasoning behind it.

"DC = 10 + 1-1/2 x your character level" so a character at level 4 would have a DC of 16 and a character at level 6 would have a DC of 19.

Any insight or help here would be appreciated.

[Taja the Barbarian]

Erik Valens wrote:

I am trying to understand the reason why the DC check for finding and selling cargo is harder when you are a higher level. That seems counter-intuitive to me. Am I seeing something wrong, or what is the reasoning behind it.

"DC = 10 + 1-1/2 x your character level" so a character at level 4 would have a DC of 16 and a character at level 6 would have a DC of 19.

Any insight or help here would be appreciated.

Mechanically, it's to keep the check 'relevant' at all character levels (DC is not so high that 1st level characters can never make it nor so low that 20th level characters make it automatically).

I'm not familiar with this specific check, but I'm guessing the 'in game' assumption is that higher level characters are looking for more valuable cargo, which limits the number of potential sellers and buyers alike.

But mainly, it's to keep the check relevant at all character levels...

[Erik Valens]

Thank you for the response.

[YogoZuno]

In theory, a character dedicated to a particular skill in Starfinder will keep increasing their modifier. At a minimum, they will add a new skill rank every level, but there are also regular stat bumps, and the addition of new feats and items, including Personal Upgrades. It is not too hard for a character at level 1 to have a +11 to a skill (+4 Stat, one rank, class skill, skill focus), making the DC 12 trivial. Assuming they only add a skill rank every level, by level 4, they have +14, at level 6, +16, and at level 20, +30. This would keep most of those DCs still trivial, until the last few levels, and this is without adding Operative's Edge or Envoy Expertise.

If you look a little further afield, a number of Starship Combat DCs are calculated similarly. A number of them are 10, 15 or even 20 plus Tier or one and a half tier. Tier is generally within a point or two of character level.

[Metaphysician]

What people said: its a simple mechanical way to handle things, with the assumption that characters are taking on level-appropriate challenges. Its not that its "harder" to do Task X if you are level 10 vs level 1, its that the mechanics assume the level 10 character is taking on the level 10 version of Task X, and not the level 1 version. Could a level 10 character do the same thing they did back at level 1 with the same DC? Sure. . . but not only would they only get the same *rewards* as back at level 1 ( ie, too small to be worthwhile ), but it wouldn't actually require making dice rolls at all anyway ( because its too easy ).

The rules could be a little more explicit with what the DCs for noncombat skills mean, and how to apply them with variable CR non-combat challenges, sure.