This is the fourth section of Part Sixteen of a series of articles looking at creating a set of Starfinder feats under specific constraints.  You can read along as we convert every feat in the PF core rulebook to Starfinder (and  share my thoughts on that process, as a developer and writer)— or you can just look at the finished feats (as they are written) here.

We’re into the long list of “Improved” feats which are going to have the same kinds of issues as the Greater feats–some are going to boost rules or features that don’t exist in Starfinder, many are going to suggest ways to break the math of the game. Lots of fun challenges! So, let’s get to it.

Improved Channel in PF boosts the save DC of a cleric’s channel powers. We don’t have those powers, but with Harm Undead in the Core Rulebook, and our additions of Alignment Channel, Channel Smite, Elemental Channel, there are powers tied to the healing channel connection power we could boost the DC of. Since Starfinder has options that boost DCs by 1 or 2, and none apply to channel, we can likely just adapt that concept directly, though it’ll take some careful writing to make sure it only boosts those options we want it to. And just to be on the safe side we’ll make these insight bonuses, so if some other option comes along that boosts them there’s a good chance it won’t stack (since an untyped bonus stacks with everything).

IMPROVED CHANNEL
Your channeled energy is hard to resist.
Prerequisites: Healing channel connection power, mystic level 1st.
Benefit: When you use an ability that requires you to expend a use of your healing channel ability and that has an effect tied to a saving throw (such as Alignment Channel, Channel Smite, Elemental Channel, or Harm Undead), the DC of the save gains a +2 insight bonus.

That was easy enough. Next is Improved Counterspell, which is trickier. Starfinder doesn’t have a universal “counterspell” rule the way PF does. It does, however, have dispel magic and greater dispel magic, which have a ‘counter” option, and that’s absed on a die roll. Since that die roll doesn’t have anything else that adds to it, we can safely give it a small boost.

IMPROVED COUNTERSPELL
You are adept at countering other’s spells.
Prerequisites: Ability to cast dispel magic or greater dispel magic.
Benefit: When you cast dispel magic or greater dispel magic using the counter option, you gain a +2 insight bonus to your dispel check to counter the other spellcaster’s spell. If the spell you are attempting to counter is of a lower spell level than the spell you are using to counter, the insight bonus increases to +4.

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