Blog Archives
Designing to Spec: Support Material (Part 11: The Vanguard)
Posted by 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 some time looking at things we may want to add to Starfinder, now that we’ve added such a huge load of feats.
Our last class to look at is the vanguard.
The vanguard bucks normal Starfinder class and rule design, in that is has a pool of “point” separate from Resolve Points. That’s not a problem (sometimes you want an outlier, like how witch hexes work differently from nearly anything else in 1st edition Pathfinder, or how the warlock engages in spells differently than other 5e classes), but it’s a good sign that entropy points are a crucial part of vanguard design.
So, if we want a vanguard to access some of the feats we created, or at least the new abilities those feats represent, it makes sense to look at entropy points as a way to do that.
Obviously if you have to have to spend or have entropy points to gain a feat, that’s less powerful than having the feat all the time. There are two primary way to boost conditional feat class features. The first is to give more than one feat (even if it’s only one feat at a time, flexibility increases overall effectiveness). The other is to give access to feats the character otherwise does not qualify for. You can mix these, of course.
Vanguard Disciplines
You must be 2nd level or higher to choose these vanguard disciplines.
Combat Momentum (Ex): You can expend 1 entropy point as part of any other action to gain one of the following feats as a bonus feat for the rest of the combat: Improved Bull Rush, Improved Disarm, Improved Overrun, Improved Sunder, Improved Trip. You do not need to meet the feat’s prerequisites. If you use this ability to gain a feat, any previous feat you gained with it ends.
Entropic Armor (Su): You gain Arcane Armor Training as a bonus feat, without meeting its prerequisites. Instead of powering the feat with a Resolve Point, you can choose to power it as a move action with an entropy point. If you take this option, the arcane talisman you create fades at the end of combat if not used.
6TH
You must be 6th level or higher to choose these vanguard disciplines.
Combat Impulse (Ex): You can expend 1 entropy point as part of any other action to gain one of the following feats as a bonus feat for the rest of the combat: Greater Bull Rush, Greater Disarm, Greater overrun, Greater Sunder, Greater Trip. You do not need to meet the feat’s prerequisites. If you use this ability to gain a feat, any previous feat you gained with it ends.
8TH
You must be 8th level or higher to choose these vanguard disciplines.
Entropic Armor Mastery (Su): You gain Arcane Armor Mastery as a bonus feat, without meeting its prerequisites.
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!
Posted in Game Design, Starfinder Development
Tags: Development, Game Design, gaming, Geekery, PC Options, Starfinder, vanguard