Starfinder playtest notes
Dec. 22nd, 2024 08:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
petrea_mitchellWhen the Starfinder second edition playtest was announced, I committed to running each of the four standalone scenarios for the local PFS players. I also managed to play each of the scenarios online.
For #1, the level 1 scenario, I tried out the witchwarper class because it had some very cool theming, but it actual practice it worked as a generic arcane spellcaster. I was disappointed. Other people have tried it at higher levels and liked it, so either it needs some building up to come into its own or the particular options I tried using just don't work well.
Scenario #2 is 5th level. For this I built a pahtra (cat-like alien) envoy. I didn't have a very clear character concept in mind to begin with, but as I picked options the character's personality evolved into "Han Solo but a cat". Envoy was a very fun class to play; whatever the situation, you've got something you can do.
For scenario #3, 10th level, I tried out a skittermander operative. Skittermanders are six-armed lizard-like aliens who tend toward being excessively helpful; I picked Outlaw for her background with the explanation that she helped out the wrong people one time. Operatives are about shooting people in lots of creative ways, and I picked a specialty that supported multiple small guns to go in those copious hands rather than concentrating on one weapon. It was fine; I don't tend to gravitate toward classes that are just about combat, but it was interesting to try.
Scenario #4, the 15th level one, I finally turned to the thing that had actually captured my imagination first when looking through the rulebook. One of the ancestry options is the barathu, a floating jellyfish-like alien. Barathu heritages include the merged barathu, where multiple barathu have combined to form a hive mind. So basically a sentient siphonophore. Siphonophores are cool! So I played a merged barathu solarian and it was fairly cool. My only big complaint is that with the limited number of options in the playtest rulebook, I was running out of things to pick for my starting gear. Barathu feats have a lot of overlap with the augmentation options, and there were only barely enough solarian crystal options to fill out a 15th level solar weapon.
As for the scenarios themselves, #3 is the clear winner. The author clearly had a lot of fun writing it.
For #1, the level 1 scenario, I tried out the witchwarper class because it had some very cool theming, but it actual practice it worked as a generic arcane spellcaster. I was disappointed. Other people have tried it at higher levels and liked it, so either it needs some building up to come into its own or the particular options I tried using just don't work well.
Scenario #2 is 5th level. For this I built a pahtra (cat-like alien) envoy. I didn't have a very clear character concept in mind to begin with, but as I picked options the character's personality evolved into "Han Solo but a cat". Envoy was a very fun class to play; whatever the situation, you've got something you can do.
For scenario #3, 10th level, I tried out a skittermander operative. Skittermanders are six-armed lizard-like aliens who tend toward being excessively helpful; I picked Outlaw for her background with the explanation that she helped out the wrong people one time. Operatives are about shooting people in lots of creative ways, and I picked a specialty that supported multiple small guns to go in those copious hands rather than concentrating on one weapon. It was fine; I don't tend to gravitate toward classes that are just about combat, but it was interesting to try.
Scenario #4, the 15th level one, I finally turned to the thing that had actually captured my imagination first when looking through the rulebook. One of the ancestry options is the barathu, a floating jellyfish-like alien. Barathu heritages include the merged barathu, where multiple barathu have combined to form a hive mind. So basically a sentient siphonophore. Siphonophores are cool! So I played a merged barathu solarian and it was fairly cool. My only big complaint is that with the limited number of options in the playtest rulebook, I was running out of things to pick for my starting gear. Barathu feats have a lot of overlap with the augmentation options, and there were only barely enough solarian crystal options to fill out a 15th level solar weapon.
As for the scenarios themselves, #3 is the clear winner. The author clearly had a lot of fun writing it.
