#Starfinder: Starfinder Month: Integrated Systems Environment Armour

Art by Andrew Arzia

Integrated systems are an armament company based on the frozen moon of Gelida. Colonists there have had to deal with some of the harshest environments in the cosmos, but settled there to explore and to identify the life that exists beneath the icy crust. With every join and module a potential weakness, their environment suits are designed as a single whole with full integrated systems – efficient, but unable to be modified further.

ISEA Squad: Level 12, Cost 35000, EAC +17, KAC +13, Max Dex Bonus +7, Armour Check Penalty -, Speed Adjustment -, Upgrade Slots 0, Bulk L, Comes fitted with Gray Force Field, Mk 2 Thermal Capacitor, Radiation Buffer and Tensile Reinforcement.

ISEA Elite: Level 15, Cost 250000, EAC +20, KAC +16, Max Dex Bonus +8, Armour Check Penalty -, Speed Adjustment -, Upgrade Slots 0, Bulk L, Comes fitted with Green Force Field, Mk 2 Thermal Capacitor, Radiation Buffer & Tensile Reinforcement.

ISEA Specialist: Level 20, Price 2050000, EAC +24, KAC +20, Max Dex Bonus +9, Armour Check Penalty -, Speed Adjustment -, Upgrade Slots 0, Bulk L, Comes fitted with Prismatic Force Field, Mk 3 Thermal Capacitor, Radiation Buffer, Tensile Reinforcement, Backup Generator and Close Combat Computer (Ignore penalties to close combat attacks).

Prismatic Force Field 2 (2), Mk 3 Thermal Capacitor 1 (3), Radiation Buffer 1 (4), Tensile Reinforcement 1 (5), Backup Generator 1 (6), Close Combat Computer 1 (7)

IS Combat Picks

Primarily meant as an aid to climbing and capable of penetrating even Gelida’s super-dense ice, the IS Combat Picks have also become a weapon of choice for some special forces operatives and bounty hunters.

IS Combat Picks, Level 6, Cost 5000, Damage 1d4 P, Bulk L, Special: Analog, Penetrating, Bonus to climbing of +2/+3 (single/pair).

#Starfinder – Starfinder Month – MoshTec Armoury

Artist Kyoung Hwan Kim

MoshTec makes weapons and gear for those who want something a little different, a little more stylish, a little more individual. Their model, here, is kitted out with four pieces of popular MoshTec gear.

MoshTec Armburst

MoshTec Armbursts fit a weapon into your armour, leaving your hand free for other things (even holding an additional gun!). Basic sensors and motorised compensators help your aim stay true, despite the awkward placing of the gun! The devil makes work for idle hands, MoshTec makes guns for busy hands!

• MoshTec Armburst Tactical: Level 1, Cost 750, Damage 1d6 P, Capacity 40, Usage 3, Bulk L, Special: Automatic, Armour Slots 1.
• MoshTec Armburst Advanced: Level 7, Cost 15000, Damage 2d6 P, Capacity 60, Usage 3, Bulk L, Special: Automatic Armour Slots 1.
• MoshTec Armburst Elite: Level 10, Cost 60000, Damage 3d6 P, Capacity 80, Usage 3, Bulk L, Special: Automatic, Armour Slots 1.
• MoshTec Armburst Paragon: Level 13, 150000, Damage 4d6 P, Capacity 100, Usage 3, Bulk L, Special: Automatic, Armour Slots 1.

MoshTec VariMass Buster Sword

The MoshTec VariMass uses patented technology to decrease and increase the mass of your weapon depending on whether you are striking or using it. On a violent stroke it rapidly increases in mass, smashing through armour, cartilage and bone while, at rest, it is as light as a feather!

• Asteroidal Buster Sword: Level 4, Cost 3000, Damage 2d6 S, Critical Knockdown, Bulk 1, Special: Powered, Capacity 20, Usage 2, Penetrating, Unwieldy
• Planetary Buster Sword: Level 10, Cost 20000, Damage 3d12 S, Critical Knockdown, Bulk 1, Special: Powered, Capacity 20, Usage 2, Penetrating, Unwieldy
• Stellar Buster Sword: Level 16, Cost 200000, Damage 6d12 S, Critical Knockdown, Bulk 1, Special: Powered, Capacity 20, Usage 2, Penetrating, Unwieldy
• Singularity Buster Sword: Level 20, Cost 800000, Damage 12d12 S, Critical Knockdown, Bulk 1, Special: Powered, Capacity 20, Usage 2, Penetrating, Unwieldy

MoshTec Trans-Species Graft

MoshTec’s advanced bio-synthetic technology now allows you to graft the organs and other appendages of alien species to your own – even if you have incompatible biology or DNA! Simply buy the grafting gel (1500), find a qualified medic, locate a donor and cut and paste! Lagomorph ears here were donated and grafted to our human model, fitting her System: Ears and providing her with a +2 Racial Bonus to Perception rolls that involve hearing!

MoshTec Showskin

You spent all that money on fine clothes or high-tech tattoos, only to hide it all beneath heavy armour plating. What’s the point? MoshTec’s Showskin armour combines light, agile armour plating with a tensile, planar forcefield to provide you with constant protection, while still letting you show off your duds.

• Showskin Raw: Level 2, Price 750, EAC +1, KAC +1, Max Dex -, Armour Penalty -, Upgrade Slots 1, Bulk L.
• Showskin Bare: Level 6, Price 5000, EAC +4, KAC +4, Max Dex -, Armour Penalty -, Upgrade Slots 1, Bulk L.
• Showskin Nude: Level 10, Price 17000, EAC +6. KAC +6, Max Dex -, Armour Penalty -, Upgrade Slots 1, Bulk L.
• Showskin Stripped: Level 14, 60000, EAC +8, KAC +8, Max Dex -, Armour Penalty -, Upgrade Slots 1, Bulk L,
• Showskin Naked: Level 18, 350000, EAC +10, KAC +10, Max Dex _, Armour Penalty -, Upgrade Slots 1, Bulk L.

#Starfinder – Starfinder Month: CoCo Operative Loadout

Art by Wonbin Lee

CoCo – The Corporate Cooperative – is a democratic corporate power with independent sovereignty over a number of corporate stations and facilities. They consider themselves an interstellar state, but many disagree. What is unusual about them is that all their employees are also considered citizens and, upon joining CoCo are given a number of shares in the company. Everyone shares in both its successes and its failures and members are permanently wired in to the company ‘chatter’. While CoCo maintains no standing military, it is alleged to have many ‘Q-Ships’ and its corporate operatives are found in many places, engaging in industrial – and conventional – espionage. Their gear is highly sought after and civilian versions are sold by CoCo to cash in on this popularity.

CoCo Body Suit

A jet black, microweave body suit with built in energy-dissipation and storage panels, the CoCo body suit is a good compromise for modern protection.

• CoCo Body Suit I: Level 2, Price 500, EAC +3, KAC +1, Maximum Dex Bonus +3, Armour Check Penalty -1, Upgrade Slots 0, Bulk 1, Special: Ignore the first point of energy damage you take from each attack.
• CoCo Body Suit II: Level 6, Price 4000, EAC +8, KAC +6, Maximum Dex Bonus +5, Armour Check Penalty -1, Upgrade Slots 1, Bulk 1, Special: Ignore the first three points of energy damage you take from each attack.
• CoCo Body Suit III: Level 8, Price 10000, EAC +11, KAC +9, Maximum Dex Bonus +5, Armour Check Penalty -1, Upgrade Slots 2, Bulk 1.
• CoCo Body Suit IV: Level 11, Price 25000, EAC +15, KAC +13, Maximum Dex Bonus +5, Armour Check Penalty -1, Upgrade Slots 3, Bulk 1

CoCo Carry System

Level 1, Cost 250

This intricate set of webbing uses various technological tricks as well as good design and a computerised weight-balancing system to help you secure your gear in the best possible way. This – which can be combined with a backpack – allows you to carry an additional 1 bulk of equipment, as though your strength were one higher. When built into armour (1 upgrade slot) it can carry 2 bulk of equipment and counts as a quick release sheath for any weapons attached to it.

CoCo Shadow Pistol

A simple projectile pistol which uses compressed gas to fire its projectiles, relatively quietly, and with an adaptable barrel which can fire any small-arm calibre round, or even ball-bearings or similar junk.

Level 6, Cost 6000, Damage 2d4 P, Range 50 ft, Capacity 12 rounds, Usage 1 (has a built-in compressor), Bulk L, Special: Analog.

CoCo Family/Stranger Networking

A pair of head implants, closely resembling small, folded ears, these allow you to connect wirelessly with CoCo data systems and to wirelessly hook up with other CoCo members within 100 ft. Indeed you must have this implant to join them. The antennae are constantly updated with CoCo information, fully encrypted, and as a safeguard are capable of delivering a lethal charge to traitors, straight to the cranium.

System: Brain, Level 5, Price 3000, Special: Wireless connectivity (you can also connect, wirelessly, to non-CoCo systems at a distance of up to 25 ft, Unit Cohesion: See below.

Unit Cohesion: If multiple people are connected via these implants they can share telemetary and communicate silently over a secured signal. This provides a +2 bonus to Perception and Initiative for everyone who is connected.

CoCo also produces a version of this cybernetic for the general public outside of their company. It can do all the same things but without access to CoCo secure lines, and it costs twice as much.

#Starfinder – Starfinder Month – Equipment

June is going to be Starfinder Month here on the Postmortem Studios blog. I’ve been thinking of doing a Machinations of the Space Princess conversion and some rules modifications for the game and that’ll be the core of what I do this month. I’ll take some suggestions too though, so if you have a picture of a cool spaceship, alien or some sci-fi gear you’d like to see statted up for MotSP or Starfinder (or both), comment with a link to the image below!

This month’s content is going to be free for everyone, sometimes – however – I paywall what I write other than a preview. If you want to support me you can do so for as little as $1 a month on Patreon or 1 token a month on Minds.com.

Starfinder has a believability problem when it comes to equipment. The level-limits on items make no goddamn sense and throw you out of your immersion. Why shouldn’t you be able to pick up that Caldarian Fusion Cannon and fire it just like anyone else? Now technically, you can, but this is used as a way to guide treasure, gear and everything else in the game. It’s certainly heavily implied that you shouldn’t go far outside these bounds, because of game balance.

The monetary limit goes a good way to controlling this as the more expensive items are beyond the reach of starting characters. Still, there has to be a better way to do this.

I think there is.

The kinks still need to be worked out, but modifying the bonuses available from certain gear seems to be the best way to about things. The way this would work is that when using gear at a level higher than yourself, you can, but you don’t have the full capability to use it that those of greater experience do – just like a layman might be nonplussed on what they’re supposed to do when handed any other piece of technical gear.

If you’re lower than the level of the equipment, say a weapon, you would get a lesser bonus or lower damage compared to someone of sufficient level. This also gives you a way to acclimatise and grow into weapons and devices – somewhat similar, if you will, to the way you acclimate to your cybernetics in Deus Ex, unlocking new capabilities as you develop.

Let’s take, by way of example, the Corona Laser Rifle from the corebook.

This ‘requires’ a level of 6, does 2d6 F damage, a burn of 1d6 and has a capacity of 40 charges.

If you’re lower than level 6 we could impose a -2 penalty to hit, and depending what level you were we could reduce the damage.

• So, at level 6 you do 2d6 on a hit and 1d6 burn damage.
• At level 5 you do 2d4 on a hit and 1d4 burn damage.
• At level 4 you do 1d8 on a hit and 1d4 burn damage.
• At level 3 you do 1d6 on a hit and 1d4 burn damage.
• At level 2 you do 1d4 on a hit and 1d4 burn damage.
• At level 1 you do 1d4 on a hit and 1d4 burn damage.

You’re better off using a n00b rifle (Azimuth) up until level 5, but you can use the higher level weapon – at a penalty – until you’re a more battle hardened veteran.

Armour, in a similar way, could retain any penalties but lose effectiveness until you learn how to wear it properly, higher level armour being more technical and requiring more involved wearing and set-up.

Taking Freebooter Armour II as an example,

At level 6 it is at full effectiveness providing +6 EAC and +8 KAC with a Max Dex bonus of +5

If we apply similar by-level reductions you end up with…

• At level 5 +5 EAC, +7 KAC, +4 Max Dex
• At level 4 +4 EAC, +5 KAC, +4 Max Dex
• At level 3 +3 EAC, +4 KAC, +3 Max Dex
• At level 2 +2 EAC, +3 KAC, +2 Max Dex
• At level 1 +1 EAC, +1 KAC, +2 Max Dex

And so on.

Of course, this is maths heavy and involves a lot more record keeping, so simply tossing out the Level-limits wholesale, even as a guideline may work better.

When designing encounters it also seems like a good idea to stretch the equipment and gear of the enemy by an amount equal to the APL. So, if you’re in an Epic battle against CR 6 Stormtroopers (NPC troops across D&D compatible products tending to range from level 1-6 based on the old follower mechanics) they might be expected to have level 9, rather than level 6 gear.

EG: Plasma swords instead of duelling swords, Aphelion sidearms and rifles instead of Corona sidearms and rifles, and their heavy weapons trooper might have an advanced X-Gen in place of a tactical one and so on.