Owen K.C. Stephens

So we’ve finished creating Starfinder versions of all the Pf Core Rulebook feats that weren’t already in Starfinder, and we’re spending this week looking at things we may want to add to Starfinder, now that we’ve added such a huge load of feats.

In addition to just giving a class access to bonus feats, and using the abilities of new feats to create new class options (as we did with the mystic support material), its possible to use new feats to define the powers of brand-new abilities. In 1st edition Pf, the cavalier and inquisitor classes are great examples of this, as both have powers that use teamwork feats in ways the feats alone don’t provide.

So with that in mind, let’s look at some new theorems for the biohacker!

Theorem

The following theorems follow the normal rules for biohacker theorems.

[2nd Level]

Heal Thyself: You gain the Self-Sufficient feat. Additionally when you use a skill, feat, or class feature to restore Hit Points or Stamina Points to yourself, you may take the points restored and divide them between your missing Hit Points and Stamina Points, even if the ability normally only restores one of those.

Multispectrum Booster: Select two feats from the following list: Acrobatic, Agile Maneuvers, Athletic, Deceitful, Deft Hands, Dodge, Endurance, Nimble Steps, Persuasive,  Stealthy. When you inject a creature with a basic booster, it gains both the normal booster benefit and your choice of the two feats you selected for the booster’s normal duration.

Alternatively you can expend a use of your booster ability to grant an injected creature both feats for a number of minutes equal to your key ability score bonus (minimum 1 minute).

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So we’ve finished creating Starfinder versions of all the Pf Core Rulebook feats that weren’t already in Starfinder, and we’re spending this week looking at things we may want to add to Starfinder, now that we’ve added such a huge load of feats.

The core thing we are trying to do is make it easier for characters to access the additional feats appropriate to their character concept without that being the only thing those characters can do. Essentially an additional 130 feats is a considerable “weight” of concepts that it can be difficult for a class to access a reasonable number of. Certainly giving classes new ways to gain these feats is one way to accommodate the additional weight of concept options on a character, but there are other options. You can, for example, take some of the new options you created with feats and build them into a class feature without accessing the feats directly. This works best with classes that don’t have a good class feature to use to hand out one feat, or a small collection of feats.\

Like the mystic.

Given all the healing channel options we added with feats, it begins to seem odd that healing connection mystics, and ONLY healing connection mystics, can access this vast array of new powers. But there’s a good way to fix that — an Alternate Class Feature. Alternate class features were added to Starfinder in the Character Operations Manual, so we have a precedent.

That brings us to the channel energy alternate connection power.

Channel Energy (Su) 1st Level

You can channel mystic energy. You can spend 1 Resolve Point to channel this energy. Having the channeled energy just affect yourself is a move action, while affecting one adjacent creature is a standard action, and affecting all appropriate creatures within 30 feet is a full action. This channeled energy’s effect starts at 2d8, and increases by 2d8 at 3rd level and every 3 levels thereafter.

Your channel energy qualifies as healing channel for prerequisites, and can be modified by feats and options that modify healing channel.

You can choose one of the following channel effects.

Alignment Harm: Select one of the following alignment subtypes: chaos, evil, good, law. Your alignment cannot include any aspect of the selected subtype. When you use your channel, you can expend a mystic Spell slot of the highest level you can cast to also deal damage equal to the amount you heal to all foes in the area with the selected subtype. The foes can attempt a Will save for half damage, at your usual connection power DC.

Elemental Harm: Your channel energy deals damage equal to its effect to elemental foes (including all creatures of the elemental type) targeted. The elementals can attempt a Will save for half damage, at your usual connection power DC.

Harm Undead: Your channel energy deals damage equal to its effect to undead foes (including all creatures of the undead type) targeted. The undead can attempt a Will save for half damage, at your usual connection power DC. This qualifies as the Harm Undead feat for other prerequisites, and things that modify Harm Undead can modify this ability.

Healing: The channeled energy heals all targeted allies a number of Hit Points equal to its effect.

Special: Any connection can take Channel Energy as a replacement for it’s 1st-level power. This is normally themed in a way appropriate to the connection (the crusader connection might well take alignment harm to smite its supernatural foes) or the character (even if the empath connection has no specific link to undead, a character taking it as the priest of a god that abhors undead might well replace it’s first level power with the harm undead alternate connection power).

…

Of course just because something can be an alternate power of other connections doesn’t mean it can’t also be the core of it’s own connection, which we’ll explore tomorrow.

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So we’ve finished creating Starfinder versions of all the Pf Core Rulebook feats that weren’t already in Starfinder, and we’re spending this week looking at things we may want to add to Starfinder, now that we’ve added such a huge load of feats.

Since the core thing we are trying to do is make it easier for classes to access appropriate feats, since we’re adding more than 120 additional feats to the game, we don’t have to restrict that access to just new feats we created. If there are feats appropriate to a class from previous rulebooks, and a game-balanced way to give them to characters as selections for class features, that can have the same benefit as just focusing on our new feats.

We can also do more than just offer up bonus feats. As a class feature, we can give options to get feats you normally wouldn’t (such as allowing ranks in a skill to substitute for base attack bonus), as long as we don’t grant feats so early the end effect is unbalanced. We can also tie the feats to other class features, to reinforce a previous class concept.

Here are some examples (one mixing old and new feats, one focusing just on pre-existing feats) for the mechanic class.

Mechanic Tricks
These mechanic tricks follow the normal rules for the mechanic trick class feature.

[2nd Level]
You may select these mechanic tricks beginning at 2nd level.

Combat Interface
Select one of the following feats: Ambuscade, Ambush Awareness, Defensive Combat Training, Dodge, Manyshot, Nimble Steps, Power Attack, Precise Shot, Spirited Charge, or Unseat.
If you have a drone, it gains the selected feat. If you have both a drone and an exocortex, at the beginning of each day you decide which has the programmed combat interface, determining if you or your drone gain the bonus feat. Otherwise, you gain the selected feat.

You may select this mechanic hack more than once. Each time, you choose a different feat.

Combat Engineer
Select one of the following feats for which you meet the prerequisites. You can use your ranks in Engineering in place of base attack bonus to fulfill the prerequisites: Adaptive Upgrade, Amplified Glitch, Barricade, Cook Grenade, Double Tap, Far Shot, Grenade Mastery, Hauler, Penetrating Attack, Pull the Pin, Ricochet Grenade.

You may select this mechanic hack more than once. Each time, you choose a different feat.

So, should we cover the rest of the classes next week, or move on to a new topic? Let me know! One great way to do that is as a comment or message through my Patreon! Like all my blog posts, this content was only possible because people joined my Patreon, helping me have the free time to write these things. 🙂

So we’ve finished creating Starfinder versions of all the Pf Core Rulebook feats that weren’t already in Starfinder, and we’re spending this week looking at things we may want to add to Starfinder, now that we’ve added such a huge load of feats.

So let’s look at envoys.

Envoys are an interesting case because they don’t really try to fill a role that exists in PF. Yes, they are Charisma-based characters, and so are bards, but bards are so explicitly build as spellcasters with a single strong group area buff (bardic performance), with a strong secondary role as information sources. Envoys have no base spellcasting, and can be built with any of a wide variety of powers, only some of which are buff or information focused.

But they do clearly serve as diplomats and negotiators, and spies and field observers, 0so there’s room there for them to have an easier time picking up some of our new feats.

Envoy Improvisations

[2nd Level]

Entourage: Select Followers or Leadership. You gain the selected feat as a bonus feat.

This envoy improvisation can be taken a second time. When you do so, you gain the second feat.

Tricksy: Select Alertness or Deceitful. You gain the selected feat as a bonus feat.

This envoy improvisation can be taken a second time. When you do so, you gain the second feat.

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Like all my blog posts, this is brought to you by the wonderful patrons of my Patreon! Want more of this content? Want to suggest specific game systems, topics, of kinds of articles? All of that is only possible if people join my Patreon, help me have the free time to write these things, and let me know what you want to see!

So we’ve finished creating Starfinder versions of all the Pf Core Rulebook feats that weren’t already in Starfinder, and we’re spending this week looking at things we may want to add to Starfinder, now that we’ve added such a huge load of feats.

Technomancers already have spell hacks to help them manipulate their eldritch energies, so it’s easy to see how those might be turned toward adding some of the new feats that do the same.

Technomancer Magic Hacks

[2nd Level]

Eldritch Crafter: Select one of the following feats for which you meet the prerequisites. You gain this as a bonus feat. Brew Potion, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Craft Rod, Craft Staff, Craft Wand, Craft Wondrous Item, Forge Ring, Scribe Scroll.

This magic hack can be taken more than once. Each time, you select a different feat from the list.

Eldritch Finesse: Select one of the following feats for which you meet the prerequisites. You gain this as a bonus feat. Empower Spell, Enlarge Spell, Extend Spell, Heighten Spell, Maximize Spell, Quicken Spell, Silent Spell, Still Spell, Widen Spell.

This magic hack can be taken more than once. Each time, you select a different feat from the list.

PATREON
Like all my blog posts, this is brought to you by the wonderful patrons of my Patreon! Want more of this content? Want to suggest specific game systems, topics, of kinds of articles? All of that is only possible if people join my Patreon, help me have the free time to write these things, and let me know what you want to see!

So now that we’re done creating Starfinder versions of all the Pf Core Rulebook feats that weren’t already in Starfinder, what’s next?

While you think about that (and tell me your thoughts!), let’s spend this week looking at things we may want to add to Starfinder, now that we’ve added such a huge load of feats.

These are going to be class features which are designed to help players who like many of the new wave of feats add them to their characters in some cases. this helps prevent Starfinder from being a game where everyone feels feat-poor as a result of the conversion work we have done.

First, let’s look at some soldier options. Soldiers already have a lot of feats and combat options, but they are also the class that is most likely to feel lacking if a player thinks there are now more feats than they can possible reasonably take (especially if those feats are important to a specific character concept).

Luckily, the soldier already has gear boosts, which are on-par power wise with feats, and we can use that as a way for a soldier to access even more of the new feats we created, or gain abilities that tie into them.

Soldier Gear Boosts

Shield Tactics [Ex] Select a feat that has proficiency with shields as a prerequisite, and for which you meet the prerequisites. You gain this as a bonus feat.

Twin Draw [Ex] When you draw or sheath weapons, you can draw or sheath one for every arm you have as part of the same action. If you have the Quick Draw feat, you can sheath a weapon and draw a new one (with each arm, if desired) as part of the same action.

PATREON
Like all my blog posts, this is brought to you by the wonderful patrons of my Patreon! Want more of this content? Want to suggest specific game systems, topics, of kinds of articles? All of that is only possible if people join my Patreon, help me have the free time to write these things, and let me know what you want to see!