starfinder trip

Cookie Preferences

Type to search for a spell, item, class — anything!

• Home starfinder

Tactical Rules

• Source: Free Basic Rules

Edit Page Content

While many ordinary citizens of the Pact Worlds go their entire lives without seeing combat, adventurers and explorers often stumble into situations where a laser pistol or a chainsword is their best option, or they might find themselves fighting for their lives from the back of a vehicle. Combat and tactical play are common parts of the Starfinder Roleplaying Game.

From high-level descriptions of how tactical combat works in Starfinder and robust breakdowns of tactical actions to in-depth explanations of key tactical concepts and special abilities, this contains everything you need to know about tactical play in Starfinder.

How Combat Works

Combat in Starfinder is cyclical. After initial steps that begin a battle, every character acts in turn through a regular cycle of rounds until the combat ends. Regardless of how it plays out, combat follows this sequence. 

• Determining Awareness: The GM establishes whether any combatant is surprised when combat breaks out. PCs and NPCs usually attempt Perception checks to determine whether they are aware that a fight has started.
• Determining Initiative Order: The GM and players roll initiative checks for those characters able to act. In combat, characters will act in order of their initiative check results— also known as their initiative counts—from highest to lowest. This order is called the initiative order.
• Surprise Round: If some but not all of the characters are surprised, combat begins with a surprise round, during which only characters who aren't surprised can act and their choice of actions is limited (see Surprise below). After the surprise round, if any, the GM and players roll initiative checks for any characters that have not yet done so. The GM inserts these characters into the initiative order based on their initiative counts.
• First Normal Combat Round: All characters act according to initiative order. The full suite of options is available to the combatants when they act, including moving and attacking.
• Continuing Combat: After all the characters have had a turn, the next normal combat round begins and characters again act in the initiative order determined for this combat. Step 5 then repeats until the combat ends. If a new character enters combat, she rolls an initiative check to determine her initiative count, and the GM inserts her into the established initiative order.

Beginning and Ending Combat

The GM determines when combat begins, often by telling players to roll initiative checks. As long as there are enemies to fight or threats for which it is important to determine who acts in what order, the characters are considered to be in combat. When the GM has decided there are no imminent, known threats left, the combat ends and initiative no longer dictates when characters can act. When the only creatures remaining on one side are so insignificant that they pose no real threat to characters from the opposing side, such as foes with a CR 4 or more below the average level of the PCs, the GM can decide whether the characters are still in combat. See Significant Enemies for more on how to gauge this.

When a combatant enters battle, she rolls an initiative check to determine when she'll act in each combat round relative to the other characters. An initiative check is a d20 roll to which a character adds her Dexterity modifier plus any other modifiers from feats, spells, and other effects. The result of a character's initiative check is referred to as her initiative count. The GM determines a combat's initiative order by organizing the characters' initiative counts in descending order. During combat, characters act in initiative order, from highest initiative count to lowest initiative count; their relative order typically remains the same throughout the combat.

If two or more combatants have the same initiative count, the order in which they act is determined by their total initiative modifiers (the character with the highest modifier acts first). If there is still a tie, the tied characters should each roll a d20, and whoever rolls highest goes first. This final method of determining which character's initiative order is earlier is often referred to as “rolling off.” However, if the GM allows it, characters whose initiative results are a tie might decide among themselves which character acts first based on strategies or other tactical factors.

A character rolls to determine her initiative count only once in each combat. Even if a character can't take actions—for example, if she's is under the effect of a hold person spell or is otherwise paralyzed—the character retains her initiative count for the duration of the encounter. The exception is when a character takes an action that results in her initiative changing (see the Ready an Action and Delay).

Any characters who enter combat after it has already begun roll initiative checks when they first enter combat. The GM then inserts them into the initiative order based on their initiative counts.

Combat Round

Each combat round represents 6 seconds in the game world, and there are 10 rounds in 1 minute of combat. A round normally allows each character involved in a combat situation to act. Each time a character acts in a round's normal order, it's called her turn.

Each combat round's activity begins with the character with the highest initiative count and then proceeds to the remaining characters in order of their initiative. When a character's turn comes up in the initiative order, that character performs his entire round's worth of actions. For some exceptions, see Other Actions; for example, delaying can change the order in which you take your turn. Regardless, in a normal combat round on her turn, a character can perform either a full action or a handful of shorter actions (see Actions in Combat for more details about the actions characters can take).

When the rules refer to a “full round,” they usually mean a span of time from a particular initiative count in one round to the same initiative count in the next round. Effects that last a certain number of rounds end just before the same initiative count on which they began. Thus, if a spell with a duration of 1 round is cast on initiative count 14, it ends just before initiative count 14 on the following round.

When a combat starts, if a character is not aware of her opponents, she is surprised. The GM determines whether each character is aware by calling for Perception checks or other relevant checks. Surprised combatants take penalties until they have acted in combat.

If some but not all of the combatants are aware of their opponents when combat breaks out, a surprise round takes place before normal combat rounds begin. In order of the characters' initiative results (highest to lowest; see Initiative below), combatants who started the battle aware of their opponents can each take either a standard or move action during the surprise round. Characters can also take swift actions during the surprise round.

If no characters or all characters are aware of their opponents, no surprise round occurs, and combat proceeds as normal.

Surprised Combatants: During combat, combatants who are surprised at the start of battle have the flat-footed condition. As a result, they take a -2 penalty to their Armor Class. Once a character has become aware and acted, she is no longer flat-footed due to being surprised.

Who is Surprised? A surprise round occurs if some but not all characters involved in a combat are unaware of opponents about to attack. Sometimes all the combatants on a side are aware of their opponents, sometimes none are, and sometimes only a few are. Sometimes several combatants on each side are aware while the rest are surprised. When you can sneak up and catch your enemies by surprise, you enjoy a powerful advantage. It's one way stealthy characters can even the odds when facing foes with superior combat abilities.

Combat Basics

This section presents the key terms and calculations needed to adjudicate the most basic elements of combat: attacking and defending. For a full breakdown of all actions characters can take in combat, see Actions in Combat.

Who Can I Attack?

Combat normally takes place on a battle map with a grid of 1-inch squares, each representing a 5-foot-by-5-foot area, with miniature figures representing characters and monsters. Most player characters and many monsters occupy a single 5-foot square, though some bigger creatures occupy multiple squares. The space a character occupies is usually referred to as her square, though the terms “space” and “square” can be used interchangeably. See Size and Space for more information.

In general, you can fire a ranged weapon at any enemy you can see on the battle map, though this becomes harder the farther away an enemy is. Likewise, you can use a melee weapon to attack an enemy in any square you threaten, which means the squares adjacent to your space, including diagonally, though you may be able to attack creatures farther away if you have reach. See Reach and Threatened Squares for more details.

Attack Roll

An attack roll represents your attempt to hit your opponent in melee or from range on your turn in a round. When you make an attack roll, you roll a d20 and add your attack bonus (see Ranged Attacks and Melee Attacks below, as well as Basic Attack and Damage Bonuses). Various other bonuses can apply from class features, feats, and so on. If your result equals or exceeds the target's Armor Class, you hit and deal damage.

Ranged Attacks

When making a ranged attack, you use a ranged weapon to shoot at an opponent from a distance. If you're attacking with a thrown weapon, your ranged attack bonus equals your base attack bonus (determined by your class and level) + your Strength modifier. Otherwise, your attack bonus for a ranged attack equals your base attack bonus + your Dexterity modifier. When you make a ranged attack, you might also take a penalty for shooting or throwing your weapon beyond the distance listed as its optimal range (see Range and Penalties).

Melee Attacks

When making a melee attack, you use a melee weapon to strike an opponent in hand-to-hand combat. Your attack bonus for a melee attack is equal to your base attack bonus (determined by your class and level) + your Strength modifier.

Basic Attack and Damage Bonuses   For ease of reference, the following are the basic formulas for calculating ranged attack bonuses, ranged damage, melee attack bonuses, and melee damage. Various other bonuses to attacks and damage can apply from class features, feats, special circumstances, and so on. 

Ranged Attack Base attack bonus + Dexterity modifier - any range penalty

Ranged Attack with a Thrown Weapon  Base attack bonus + Strength modifier - any range penalty

Ranged Damage Weapon damage

Ranged Damage with a Thrown Weapon Weapon damage + Strength modifier

Melee Attack Base attack bonus + Strength modifier

Melee Damage Weapon damage + Strength modifier

Automatic Misses and Hits

A natural 1 (the d20 comes up 1) on an attack roll is always a miss. A natural 20 (the d20 comes up 20) is always a hit. A natural 20 is also a possible critical hit, which could deal more damage (see Critical Hits).

Armor Class (AC)

Your Armor Class (AC) represents how hard it is for opponents to land a solid damaging blow on you. Your Armor Class (AC) is the minimum attack roll result that an opponent needs to hit you and deal damage. Armor Class is divided into two categories: Energy Armor Class (EAC) and Kinetic Armor Class (KAC). Any reference to Armor Class, including bonuses and penalties, applies to both EAC and KAC unless otherwise specified.

Your EAC and KAC are primarily determined by your armor bonus (most often from a suit of armor you wear) plus your Dexterity modifier. Calculate your EAC and KAC using the following formula: 10 + your armor's EAC or KAC armor bonus (whichever is appropriate) + your Dexterity modifier.

Most suits of armor provide separate armor bonuses to EAC and KAC. However, some suits of armor's conditions prevent you from using your full Dexterity bonus. Various other bonuses can apply from class features, feats, special circumstances, and so on. For more information on bonuses.

Energy Armor Class (EAC)

Your Energy Armor Class (EAC) represents the defenses you have against attacks that only deal damage as a result of some kind of energy (such as acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic damage). When an opponent's attack would deal only energy damage (if he is using, for example, a laser pistol), his attack roll result is compared to your EAC to determine whether he hits you. Some weapons and effects that use magical or exotic untyped energies might also target your EAC; the description of the weapon or effect tells you if this is the case.

Kinetic Armor Class (KAC)

Your Kinetic Armor Class (KAC) represents the defenses you have against attacks that primarily deal damage as a result of a physical impact. This generally includes attacks that deal bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage (described as “kinetic attacks”), attacks that don’t otherwise specify which AC they target, impacts from falling, and damage from crushing or constriction. When a foe's attack would deal such damage (if he is using, for example, a starknife), even if it also deals energy damage, his attack roll result is compared to your KAC to determine whether he hits.

If your attack hits, you deal damage. Damage first reduces a target's current Stamina Points and then the target's Hit Points (see Injury and Death for more information). In most cases, the type of weapon used determines the amount of damage you deal, though specialization in groups of similar weapons (see the Weapon Specialization feat) and other abilities can increase that amount. Some weapons and abilities may add further effects in addition to dealing damage.

Strength Modifier

When you hit with a melee or thrown ranged weapon, add your Strength modifier to your damage roll's result. However, do not add your Strength modifier to the damage of your grenades and nonthrown ranged attacks.

Multiplying Damage

Sometimes you multiply your damage by some factor, such as on a critical hit. In this case, you do not literally multiply your damage roll result by that factor. Instead, you roll the damage (adding all modifiers) the number of times specified and total the results. If you multiply damage more than once, each multiplier applies to the original, unmultiplied damage. Thus, doubling damage twice is equivalent to rolling the damage (adding all modifiers) three times—once for the original damage and once for each doubling.

Minimum Damage

If penalties reduce a damage result to less than 1, a hit still deals 1 nonlethal damage (see Nonlethal Damage).

Ability Damage

Certain creatures and magical effects can cause temporary or permanent ability damage, which lowers a particular ability score and can reduce its modifier, therefore affecting a range of statistics and rolls. See Ability Damage, Ability Drain, and Negative Levels for more information.

Stamina Points and Hit Points

Whenever you take damage, it first reduces your Stamina Points (SP). Any damage you take beyond your Stamina Points reduces your Hit Points (HP). When your Hit Point total reaches 0, you fall unconscious and are dying, and you lose 1 Resolve Point (RP) each round unless you are stabilized. When your Resolve Points reach 0 but you would lose additional Resolve Points from dying or for any other reason, you're dead. For example, if you have 6 Stamina Points and take 9 damage, your Stamina Points are reduced to 0, you lose 3 Hit Points, and all subsequent damage reduces your HP until you regain Stamina Points. See Injury and Death for more information.

Saving Throws

When you are subject to an unusual effect, such as those imposed by some special weapons and magical attacks, in most cases you can attempt a saving throw (often simply called a “save”) to avoid or reduce the effect. When you attempt a saving throw, you roll a d20 and add your base saving throw bonus (determined by your class and level) and an associated ability score modifier (see below). You might also have other abilities, feats, or items that further modify your saving throws. If your result equals or exceeds the saving throw Difficulty Class (see below), your saving throw is successful.

Saving Throw Types

The three kinds of saving throws are Fortitude, Reflex, and Will.

Fortitude saving throws measure your ability to stand up to physical punishment or attacks against your vitality and health. Apply your Constitution modifier to your Fortitude saving throws.

Reflex saving throws test your ability to dodge area attacks and unexpected situations. Apply your Dexterity modifier to your Reflex saving throws.

Will saving throws reflect your resistance to mental influence as well as many magical effects. Apply your Wisdom modifier to your Will saving throws.

Saving Throws in Play

This subsection explains how to determine the difficulty of a saving throw, the result of a successful saving throw, and other key elements in play.

Difficulty Class (DC)

A saving throw against an effect has a Difficulty Class (DC) determined by the effect. For most class features, the DC of an effect you create equals 10 + half your class level + your key ability score modifier. For spells, this is 10 + the level of the spell + your key ability score modifier. See Weapons to find the DC for weapon special properties and critical hit effects. The description of an effect from an item normally lists a saving throw DC.

Automatic Failures and Successes

A natural 1 (the d20 comes up 1) on a saving throw is always a failure. A natural 20 (the d20 comes up 20) is always a success.

Forgoing a Saving Throw

You can voluntarily forgo a saving throw and willingly accept the result of an effect or spell. If you have special resistance to magic, you can suppress that resistance to accept the result (though doing so takes a standard action).

If you succeed at a saving throw against an effect that has no obvious physical indications, you feel a hostile force or a warning tingle but cannot deduce the exact nature of the attack. Likewise, if a creature specifically targeted by one of your effects succeeds at its saving throw, you can generally tell that the creature has succeeded. You do not sense when creatures succeed at saves against effects you create that don't target a single creature.

Saving Throw Terminology

When a spell, an item, or another effect notes that it allows a saving throw, it typically includes the following terminology to describe the result of a successful saving throw. If it does not allow a saving throw, this entry simply says “none.”

This means that the effect has no impact if you succeed at your saving throw.

This means that the effect has a lessened impact if you succeed at your saving throw. Some lesser effect occurs, as defined in the effect's description.

Half or Half Damage

This means the effect deals half the normal amount of damage if you succeed at your saving throw.

Disbelieves

A successful saving throw lets you ignore the effect (this usually applies only to illusion effects).

Effects that deal damage generally affect unattended objects normally but don't damage held or attended objects unless the effect specifies that they do. Effects that do something other than deal damage affect objects only if their descriptions specifically say so (this is common only with spells) or if they note “(object)” in the description of the effect's saving throw. An object's total saving throw bonus for Fortitude, Reflex, and Will saves is equal to the object's item level. An object you're holding or wearing uses your saving throw bonus if it is better than the object's own saving throw bonus. Items with an item level of 0 do not receive saving throws when unattended.

Normally only spells note whether they are harmless. Such a spell is usually beneficial, not harmful, but if targeted, you can attempt a saving throw, if you like.

Ability Checks

Sometimes a situation will call for you to attempt an ability check: a Strength check, a Dexterity check, a Constitution check, an Intelligence check, a Wisdom check, or a Charisma check. In this case, simply roll a d20 and add the modifier for that associated ability score. It's possible for an ability score modifier to be negative. In this case, subtract that amount from your d20 roll.

Other Rule Terms

In addition to the basic combat mechanics and statistics detailed above, the following terms and rules are also frequently used in Starfinder, both in and out of combat.

Allies and Enemies

Sometimes an ability targets or requires an enemy or an ally, such as the envoy's watch out improvisation. You count as your own ally unless an ability says otherwise. The GM has the final say on whether someone is an enemy or ally; you can't declare one of your fellow party members to be an enemy or an enemy to be an ally just to trigger a special ability. You can reject benefits that would apply to you as the result of being an ally.

Significant Enemies

The GM can and should declare that an ineffectual foe is not enough of a threat to count as an enemy for effects that grant you a benefit when you do something to an enemy or have an enemy do something to you. For example, the commander ability of the mercenary theme requires you to defeat three distinct groups of significant enemies in a day to recover 1 Resolve Point; the mercenary shouldn’t gain this benefit if all they did was step on three different bugs that had no chance of hurting them. In general, a creature with a CR less than or equal to your character level -4 is not a significant enemy.

Armor Proficiency

Most classes grant proficiency with light armor, and more melee-oriented classes, such as soldiers, grant proficiency with heavy armor. If you are wearing armor with which you are not proficient, you take a -4 penalty to your Armor Class.

Powered Armor

Characters can gain proficiency with powered armor by taking the Powered Armor Proficiency feat or via certain class features. Powered armor imposes more significant drawbacks on wearers who aren't proficient with it than other types of armor. If you are wearing powered armor with which you are not proficient, you take a -4 penalty to Armor Class, you are always flat-footed and off-target, and you move at half speed. If the armor has a special form of movement (such as the flight speed of a flight frame), you cannot use that form of movement.

Multiplying More Than Once

When you are asked to multiply a value or roll more than once, the multipliers (x2, x3, and so on) are not multiplied by one another. Instead, you combine them into a single multiplier, with each extra multiple adding 1 less than its value to the first multiple. For example, if you apply a x 2 multiplier twice, the result is equivalent to multiplying the value by 3 (or rolling the damage three times), not multiplying it by 4.

Occasionally the rules might ask you to round a result or value. Unless otherwise stated, always round down. For example, if you are asked to take half of 7, the result would be 3.

Weapon Proficiency

Most classes grant proficiency with basic melee weapons and small arms. Combat-oriented classes, such as solarian and soldier, grant proficiency with more categories of weapons, as noted in each class's Weapon Proficiency section. All characters are proficient with any natural weapons they might have, such as a claw or bite attack. If you use a weapon with which you are not proficient, you take a -4 penalty to attack rolls with that weapon, and the DC for any saving throws against that weapon's special effects likewise takes a -4 penalty.

Weapon Specialization

At 3rd level, all classes grant specialization in groups of weapons, which increases the damage you deal with those weapons. See the Weapon Specialization feat for more details.

Wielding Weapons

When the rules refer to wielding a weapon, it means you are holding a weapon with the correct number of hands and can thus make attacks with it. For example, if you are holding a small arm or one-handed melee weapon in a hand, you are considered to be wielding the weapon. If you are carrying a longarm or two-handed melee weapon in one hand or wearing a holstered or sheathed weapon, you are not wielding that weapon.

Rerolls and Rolling Twice

Some abilities allow you to reroll a failed die roll—usually an attack roll, a saving throw, or a skill check. Unless an ability says otherwise, you must decide to use a reroll as soon as you know the result of your first roll but before the GM tells you the outcome or you declare the use of any other ability. You use your rerolled result only if it is better than your original result.

There are also abilities that allow you to make two rolls for a specific die roll and take the better of the two results. These abilities require you to decide to roll twice prior to the die roll. Some abilities allow you to force a foe to roll twice and take the worse of the two results. These abilities also must be announced prior to a die roll being made.

In most cases, once an ability to either reroll or roll twice (or force a foe to roll twice) has been applied, no other similar ability can be applied to that same specific die roll. There are exceptions, however. If one character forces a foe to roll twice and take the worse result, that enemy can still apply the ability to roll twice and take the better result. The reverse is also possible—countering the advantage of rolling twice by forcing a foe to roll twice with a worse result. In both cases, the two abilities negate one other, resulting in a single die roll being made. That die roll cannot then benefit from an ability that would allow a reroll.

• Skip to navigation
• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to secondary sidebar
• Skip to footer

Owen K.C. Stephens

The portal to everything owen-related. :), greater combat maneuvers for starfinder.

Posted by Owen K.C. Stephens

Okay, let’s get back to doing some ttRPG rules you can bring to the table, shell we?

Combat maneuvers in Starfinder are specifically designed to be difficult to pull off against a significant foe without having a fair number of bonuses in place. You have to hit an opponent’s KAC +8, which is a difficult task, and if you fail you have no effect on them at all. This is an intentional design choice rather than some accident of not playtesting (indeed, it was originally KAC +10, and after playtesting we decided that was exactly 10% too hard to achoice, which is why the weird “+8” value is used).

(If you want to know WHY we made that intentional design choice, I recommend joining my Patreon for as little as the cost of a cup of coffee a month, and ask in the comments there!)

The biggest problem with having an appealing-looking effect available but unlikely to work, is that there is very little as frustrating for players than taking a round to accomplish absolutely nothing. In a game with soft limits designed to keep a character from ever being able to specialize in a tactic to the point it nearly never fails, this frustration is worse for players who are trying to create a certain kind of “build” focused on trying a difficult maneuver over and over. The end result may be effective (if you have to try to disarm someone three times before you succeed, but disarming them makes them nearly useless and you couldn’t knock them out that fast, it’s an effective tactic), but still not be any fun .

(And yes, there are things like “save: negates” spells that have the same issue. But that’s a different article.)

However, just making it easier to perform the difficult-but-extremely-effective maneuver can break the balance of different options in the game, especially if other soft limits are kept in place.

But you can alleviate some of the unfun “wasted by whole turn” feeling by having a midpoint between spectacular success and total failure.

You COULD just add this as an alternate rule that applies to all combat maneuvers performed by everyone, or make it a built-in part of the Improved Combat Maneuver feat. However, you’ll have the least impact on game balance if this becomes a new feat option, allowing additional specialization for characters who want a better chance to impact combat with their preferred maneuvers, without making the maneuvers universally more effective.

Greater Combat Maneuver (Combat)

With one specific combat maneuver, even when you fail you often inconvenience your target. Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +1. Benefit: Choose one combat maneuver (bull rush, dirty trick, disarm, grapple, reposition, sunder, or trip). If your attack roll for this combat maneuver fails to hit your target’s KAC +8, but does hit their KAC +4, you manage a :near miss,” and impose a minor, temporary condition on the target. This is not considered succeeding at the combat maneuver for purposes of any other effects of yours that are triggered by succeeding at a combat maneuver. The effect you have on a near-miss depends on the combat maneuver you have selected, as noted below. Bull Rush: Although you didn’t move the target, you did shove them off-balance for a moment, forcing them to regain their footing. They are dazed until the beginning of their turn. (The target can act normally on their next turn, but can’t take reactions prior to that.) Dirty Trick: The target had to twist away from you, or shield its eyes, to avoid the impact of your dirty trick. The subject is dazzled for 1 round. Disarm: You didn’t knock the item out of the target’s hand, but you did give it a good whack, impacting their aim. They are Off-Target for 1 round, or until they take a move action to negate this condition. Grapple: While you haven’t managed to get a solid grip on your target, your attempt to get a grip and subsequently being in-their-face makes it a bit more difficult for them to pay attention to anything else. They are dazzled for 1 round. Reposition: Although you didn’t move the target, you did shove them off-balance for a moment, forcing them to regain their footing. They are dazed until the beginning of their turn. (The target can act normally on their next turn, but can’t take reactions prior to that.) Sunder: You didn’t damage the item, but you did give it a good whack, impacting the target’s aim. They are Off-Target for 1 round, or until they take a move action to negate this condition. Trip: Although you didn’t trip the target, you did shove them off-balance for a moment, forcing them to regain their footing. They are dazed until the beginning of their turn. (The target can act normally on their next turn, but can’t take reactions prior to that.) Special: You can take Greater Combat Maneuver multiple times. The effects don’t stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new combat maneuver.

While this feat doesn’t require Improved Combat Maneuver (in keeping with Starfinder’s tendency to keep feat chains to a minimum), it has obvious synergy with that feat. A character with Improved Combat maneuver (disarm) gains a +4 bonus to their disarm attempts. That means if their attack roll would normally hit the target’s AC, with the +4 from the Improved feat it’ll hit KAC +4, which is enough to trigger Greater Combat Maneuver. So on any roll that would have been good enough to damage the target that character could get some impact from attempting a combat maneuver, even if it doesn’t get the full maneuver effect.

Support My Patreon The more support I get, the more time I can spend on writing things like this.  So if you want more Starfinder-related content from one of the creators of the game and the original Starfinder Design Lead, sign up fr my Patreon , for as little as the cost of one cup of coffee a month, and let me know!

Share this:

About Owen K.C. Stephens

Posted on July 6, 2021, in Game Design , Starfinder Development and tagged combat maneuvers , feats , Game Design , gaming , PC Options , Starfinder . Bookmark the permalink . Leave a comment .

Leave a comment

Leave a comment cancel reply.

• Search for:

The 52 in 52 program gives you a new gaming product a week, every week, throughout 2020 written or developed by Owen K.C. Stephens. Every product is presented in four versions to cover four popular game systems – Pathfinder 1st Edition, Pathfinder 2nd Edition, Starfinder, and 5th Edition!

Recent Posts

• How the Fight With Cancer is Going
• Cancer and Career
• Top Ten Terrible Mash-Up Movie Ideas I’d Watch the Hell Out Of
• Top Ten Worst Ideas For Sequels
• Decking the Halls
• December 2023
• November 2023
• October 2023
• September 2023
• August 2023
• February 2023
• January 2023
• December 2022
• November 2022
• October 2022
• September 2022
• August 2022
• February 2022
• January 2022
• December 2021
• November 2021
• October 2021
• September 2021
• August 2021
• February 2021
• January 2021
• December 2020
• November 2020
• October 2020
• September 2020
• August 2020
• February 2020
• January 2020
• December 2019
• November 2019
• October 2019
• September 2019
• August 2019
• February 2019
• January 2019
• December 2018
• November 2018
• October 2018
• September 2018
• August 2018
• February 2018
• January 2018
• December 2017
• November 2017
• October 2017
• September 2017
• August 2017
• February 2017
• January 2017
• December 2016
• November 2016
• October 2016
• September 2016
• August 2016
• February 2016
• January 2016
• December 2015
• November 2015
• October 2015
• September 2015
• August 2015
• February 2015
• January 2015
• December 2014
• November 2014
• October 2014
• September 2014
• August 2014
• February 2014
• January 2014
• November 2013
• October 2013
• September 2013
• August 2013
• February 2013
• December 2012
• November 2012
• October 2012
• August 2012
• January 2012
• October 2011
• August 2011
• Adventure Design
• Adventure Sketch
• Anachronistic Adventurers
• Anniversary
• Business of Games
• Diesel Pulp
• Drink Review
• Everyday Heroes
• Fantasy AGE
• Game Design
• Geek Movie Review
• Makes Perfect Sense
• Microsetting
• Nightmares of Absalom
• Pathfinder 2nd Ed
• Pathfinder Development
• Practical Pastiche
• Retrospective
• Rogue Genius Games
• ShadowFinder
• Short Fiction
• Starfinder Development
• System Agnostic
• Uncategorized
• UnchainedCampaign
• Writing Basics
• Entries feed
• Comments feed
• WordPress.com

Twitter Updates

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

• Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
• Subscribe Subscribed
• Copy shortlink
• Report this content
• View post in Reader
• Manage subscriptions
• Collapse this bar

Archives of Nethys

All rules | downtime rules, flat-footed, overburdened, unconscious.

Improved Combat Maneuver (Combat)

You are particularly skilled with a specific combat maneuver.

Prerequisites : Base attack bonus +1.

Benefit : Choose one combat maneuver (bull rush, dirty trick, disarm, grapple, reposition, sunder, or trip). You gain a +4 bonus to your attack roll to resolve that combat maneuver.

Special : You can take Improved Combat Maneuver multiple times. The effects don’t stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new combat maneuver.

Gamemastering

As the Game Master, you wear many hats: storyteller, entertainer, judge, inventor, and player. You’re in charge of creating an entire world for your friends to explore, and you fill the shoes of every nonplayer character they interact with. While this can be a lot of work, it can also be deeply rewarding. As the GM, you’re the ultimate arbiter of everything in your game—you can change setting details or even fundamental rules of the game as you see fit—but below are some systems and tips to help make your GMing experience fun and smooth.

Building and Adventure

How much work you put into preparing your adventure is up to you. The easiest approach is to simply modify or run a published adventure (see the sidebar on page 392). While published adventures are usually quite intricate, with beautiful maps and interwoven storylines, don’t let that intimidate you. If you’re the only one running your adventure, you can easily get by with just a few notes, such as an outline of the plot, a map or two of main adventure sites, and a few stat blocks or notes for the creatures you plan to use as enemies. Some people run entirely off the cuff, while others write everything down. Whatever lets you relax and have fun at the table is the right choice.

If you decide to write everything out, however, remember that an adventure is not a novel. The other players control the main characters, and you should leave room for them to shape the action. If the characters steal a shuttle and head down to the planet when you expected them to try and capture the ship’s bridge, don’t despair! Just grab the Starfinder Alien Archive, flip it open, and tell them what weird creatures—perhaps lurking within some strange alien ruins inscribed with mystical signs—they find when they land. Maybe you can still bring the story back around to your original idea after this side quest, but adapting your story in response to player action is what makes a group storytelling game like Starfinder exciting and surprising for the GM as well as the players!

The following pages contain some key issues you should consider before sitting down to run a game, as well as elements that, if prepared in advance, can save you a lot of time and frustration at the table.

Stat Blocks

Stat blocks are one of the most complex parts of the game, but also the most useful. They tell you everything you need to know about a creature or character’s abilities in a fight, much like a condensed version of a character sheet.

How you use stat blocks is up to you. Some Game Masters like to create custom stat blocks for most of the allies and enemies encountered during an adventure, some like to create them only for the biggest and baddest enemy characters, and others are perfectly happy to repurpose statistics from other adventures or books like the Alien Archive. Some GMs don’t even bother with full stat blocks and just write down a few key statistics—Armor Classes, attacks and damage, Hit Points, and saving throws—and ignore the rest unless it becomes important.

All of these approaches are valid, but in general, the ways you expect your party to interact with a character determine what you need. If your PCs go to a nonplayer character (NPC) for research assistance before their next mission, then you probably need to know only a few skill values, whereas you’ll probably need to know all the combat statistics for the Free Captain pirate they battle in the adventure’s climax. Also remember that in addition to using published characters and creatures as written, you can simply “reskin” those creatures. If you use the statistics for a haan but describe fins and jets instead of claws and balloons, a cold spray instead of firespray, and a swim speed instead of a fly speed, congratulations—you’ve created a brand- new alien, and your players will never know the difference!

For a sample monster stat block and descriptions of a stat block’s entries, see pages 420–421.

Level Equivalent for Monsters and NPCs

Many abilities and effects are based on a creature’s level. Unlike player characters, however, monsters and NPCs don’t have levels. Instead, the CR of a monster or NPC functions as its level for any ability or effect based on level.

Designing Encounters

An encounter is any event that presents the PCs with a specific problem that they must solve. Most encounters involve combat with monsters or hostile NPCs, but there are many other types: a corridor full of robotic traps, a fraught negotiation with government authorities, an environmental hazard on a strange planet, an encrypted database that needs to be hacked, or anything else that adds drama to the game. Some encounters involve puzzles, interpersonal interactions, physical feats, or other tasks that can be overcome entirely with roleplaying and skill checks, but the most common encounters are also the most complex to build—combat encounters.

When designing a combat encounter, decide what level of challenge you want your PCs to face and follow the steps below.

Step 1: Determine APL

The first thing you need to do is determine your players’ Average Party Level (APL), which represents how much of a challenge the group can handle. To get this number, add up the levels of all characters in the party, divide the sum by the number of party members, then round to the nearest whole number (this is an exception to the usual “round down” rule). If the group contains fewer than four characters, subtract 1 from the result; if the group contains six or more characters, add 1 to the total. For example, if a group has six characters, two at 4th level and four at 5th level, its APL is 6 (28 total levels divided by six characters equals 5 after rounding up, and 1 is added for having six characters).

Step 2: Determine CR

Challenge Rating (CR) is a convenient number used to indicate the relative danger presented by an enemy, trap, hazard, or other encounter; the higher the CR, the more dangerous the encounter. Refer to Table 11–1: Encounter Difficulty on page 390 to determine the Challenge Rating your group should face depending on the difficulty of the challenge you want and the group’s APL.

Step 3: Build the Encounter

Determine the total experience point (XP) award for the encounter by looking up its CR on Table 11–3: Experience Point Awards. This gives you an “XP budget” for the encounter. Every creature, trap, and hazard is worth an amount of XP determined by its CR, as noted on the table. To build your encounter, simply add creatures, traps, and hazards whose combined XP does not exceed the total XP budget for your encounter. It’s easiest to add the highest CR challenges first and then reach the total by including lesser challenges.

For example, let’s say you want your group of six 11th- level PCs (APL 12) to face a hard encounter on Eox against a crafty necrovite (CR 13) and some elephantine ellicoths (CR 9 each). Table 11–1: Encounter Difficulty indicates to you that a hard encounter for a group of APL 12 is equivalent to CR 14. According to Table 11–3: Experience Point Awards, a CR 14 encounter has an XP budget of 38,400 XP. At CR 13, the necrovite is worth 25,600 XP, leaving you with 12,800 XP to spend on ellicoths. Ellicoths are worth 6,400 XP apiece, so the encounter can support two ellicoths in its XP budget. Or you could skip the necrovite and use three ellicoths instead, leaving you with 19,200 XP to spend on other creatures or hazards (perhaps a CR 12 creature that shares the ellicoths’ lair).

Special Considerations

Creating fun and balanced encounters is both an art and a science. Don’t be afraid to stray from the formulas by making changes— sometimes called ad hoc adjustments—that you think will make the encounter more fun or manageable for your particular party. In addition to the basic rules above, consider whether any of the following factors might apply to your encounter.

Adding NPCs

Creatures with abilities that match a class, such as creatures that belong to the PC races detailed in this book, function differently than creatures with substantial innate abilities. Their power comes more from gear than from nature, and they might have skills and abilities similar to those of PCs. Generally, the CR of an NPC equals the level of a PC with the same abilities—for example, an NPC with abilities similar to a 2nd-level technomancer would be CR 2. An NPC usually has armor and a weapon each with a level equal to its CR, give or take a level, and possibly one or two more items of a level equal to its CR. For more information on creating nonplayer characters, see the Alien Archive.

CR Equivalencies

The sheer number of experience points involved in building high-CR encounters can seem daunting, especially when you’re trying to craft an encounter on the fly. When using a large number of identical creatures, Table 11–2: CR Equivalencies can simplify the math by combining them into one CR, making it easier to find their total XP value. For example, using this table, you can see that four CR 8 creatures (worth 4,800 XP each) are equivalent to one CR 12 creature (worth 19,200 XP). You can also use this table to work backward and build encounters with much less math. Need a CR 7 encounter using CR 4 creatures? Just check the table, and you’ll see that you need three CR 4 creatures to create a CR 7 encounter.

Terrain Factors

An encounter against a creature that’s out of its favored element (like an enormous dragon encountered in a tiny cave) gives the PCs an advantage. In such a situation, you should probably build the encounter as normal—you don’t want to accidentally overcompensate and kill your party—but when you award experience for the encounter, you may want to do so as if the encounter were 1 CR lower than its actual CR.

The reverse is also true, but only to an extent. Creature CRs are assigned with the assumption that a given creature is encountered in its favored terrain. Encountering a water-breathing kalo in an underwater area shouldn’t increase the XP you award for that encounter, even if none of the PCs breathe water. But if the terrain impacts the encounter significantly, you can increase the XP award as if the encounter’s CR were 1 higher. For example, an encounter against a creature with blindsight in an area with no natural light needs no CR adjustment, but an encounter against the same creature where any light brought into it is suppressed might be considered +1 CR.

As a general rule, the goal of ad hoc XP adjustments based on factors like terrain is not to penalize PCs for doing well, but to make sure they’re being challenged and rewarded appropriately.

Gear Adjustments

You can significantly increase or decrease the power level of an NPC by adjusting its gear, particularly its weapons or crucial items such as powered armor. An NPC encountered with no gear should have its CR reduced by 1 (provided that the loss of gear actually hampers it). An NPC with better gear than normal—such as a weapon with 2 levels higher than the NPC’s CR or a large number of items with a level equal to its CR—has a CR of 1 higher than normal. This equipment impacts your treasure budget (see page 391), so make overgeared NPCs like this with caution!

Tactical Considerations

Just as a player slowly learns how to use his character’s abilities, so does a GM learn how to best deploy her collection of foes. CR can’t cover every situation, so a GM should think through both a creature’s abilities and the encounter’s setting for any potential pitfalls.

One major concern is the CR of the enemy. The CR system works best when the CR of each of the GM’s creatures is relatively close to the PCs’ Average Party Level. It might be tempting to throw a single higher-CR creature against the party, and sometimes that works out fine, but you may run the risk of obliterating the party when their saving throws aren’t yet high enough to protect against the creature’s abilities. Conversely, if you throw a horde of CR 1 creatures against your party with an APL of 8, those creatures are unlikely to hit the characters’ Armor Classes or succeed with any of their abilities, and thus they won’t be challenging, no matter how many you include.

Yet just as a tidal wave of low-CR enemies can become a tensionless slog for players, fighting a single opponent can also be a bore, depending on that opponent’s abilities. A lone technomancer without any bodyguards or defenses in place might find himself quickly surrounded or unable to cast his spells after being grappled, and a creature with a single powerful attack might still not be a great match for a party of five slightly less powerful characters due to the sheer number of attacks they have each round. In general, the strongest encounters have a handful of enemies that guard vulnerable creatures with powerful abilities and balance out the PCs’ number of actions each round.

Gaining Experience

In the Starfinder RPG, characters advance in level by overcoming challenges ranging from combat situations to diplomatic encounters. All of these are symbolized by experience points (XP). Many GMs choose to simply keep a list of all the encounters PCs overcome during a session, add together the experience points, and award them in a lump sum at the end of the session. That way, if characters earn enough XP to gain levels, you won’t have to pause the game while they level up their characters, and you can instead let them do so between sessions.

Every opponent, trap, or obstacle the PCs overcome (including starship combat and vehicle chases) is worth a set amount of XP, as determined by CR. Purely roleplaying encounters are generally assumed to have a CR equal to the Average Party Level, but you may award XP as if it were higher or lower, depending on difficulty. Note, however, that encounters with a CR of less than the APL – 10 merit no XP award, as they’re too easy. Similarly, using starship weapons against a settlement or driving an asteroid into a planet may kill thousands, but in such instances, the party should generally not receive XP or wealth, as these massacres are neither heroic nor challenging. Experience gained in a fight comes not from enemy death but from expertise acquired as a result of combat, which such impersonal situations lack.

To award XP, take your list of defeated encounters and find the value of each encounter’s CR under the “Total XP” column on Table 11–3: Experience Point Awards. Add up the total XP values for each CR and then divide this total by the number of characters. The result is the amount of XP each character earns. For a slightly less exact method, you can add up the individual XP awards listed in the table for a group of the appropriate size. In this case, the division between characters is done for you.

In addition, don’t be afraid to give players extra XP when they conclude a major storyline or accomplish something important. These “story awards” can consist of any amount of XP. While a good rule of thumb is to award twice the XP for a CR equal to the group’s APL, you can also customize your story award amounts to help your players’ characters reach a particular level for the next adventure you want to run.

Table: Encounter Difficulty

Table: cr equivalences, table: experience points awards.

Individual XP (By No. of Players)

Gaining Wealth

As PCs gain levels, they tend to obtain wealth. Starfinder assumes that all PCs of equivalent level have roughly equal amounts of wealth in the form of gear, magic items, and raw currency. Since a PC’s primary way of gaining wealth is through adventuring, it’s important to moderate the amount you place in your adventures. Thus, the amount of wealth PCs earn from their adventures is tied to the Challenge Rating of the encounters they face.

Wealth per Encounter

Table 11–4: Wealth Gains per Encounter lists the amount of treasure each encounter should award based on its CR. When looking at this number, it’s important to understand that it represents wealth from many different sources: hard currency, looted items, and earned or story-based wealth. Relying too much on any one category can skew the game’s power balance. Additionally, most encounters are part of an overarching adventure, in which case it’s useful to look at wealth for the adventure as a whole. Don’t be afraid to have some encounters grant more wealth while others grant less, as long as it balances out by the end of the adventure. (After all, a well-armed NPC is more likely to be carrying valuable items than a mindless beast.) Below are some important considerations regarding each type of wealth.

Table: Wealth Gains per Encounter

Gear looted from fallen enemies or otherwise acquired during adventures can generally be sold for only 10% of its face value. This is important to gameplay, in that it discourages players from picking up every dropped helmet or low-level weapon and turning their ship into a flying garage sale, yet it’s also crucial to keep in mind when placing treasure. If an item is significantly better than the PCs’ current gear, assume they keep it and factor it in at its full value. If it’s no better than what they already have, assume they sell it when they have the chance. (Comparing the item level to the Average Party Level can be an excellent guideline for this purpose.) For example, if the characters face a high-CR enemy with a correspondingly awesome laser rifle, assume they keep it. If they fight eight aeon troopers with armor comparable to their own, assume most groups will leave it rather than carry eight bulky sets of armor with them. In general, beware of providing single items far above your party’s APL. Instead, provide several items equal to or only slightly better than your party’s current gear, and then make up the rest with consumable items and items likely to be resold.

Story-Based Wealth

Given the inefficiency of constantly looting and selling enemy gear, Starfinder assumes at least part of player wealth comes from story-based sources, usually completing a mission or adventure. Perhaps it’s payment for finishing a patron’s quest, a gift from a grateful populace, a bounty on a criminal, or proceeds from selling an alien artifact or the exclusive interview rights to a PC’s account of an adventure. Regardless of the source, consider setting aside part of the budget from your encounters to allow for large lump-sum payments at appropriate points in the story.

Hard Currency

It’s important to include credits in your rewards, so that players can buy items appropriate to their characters, but avoid regularly giving out handfuls of credsticks, as pooling large sums of liquid capital can enable a party to buy better gear than would normally be appropriate for the group’s APL.

Wealth By Level

Table: Character Wealth by Level lists the amount of treasure each PC is expected to have at a specific level. In addition to providing benchmarks to make sure existing characters remain balanced, it can also be used to budget gear for characters starting above 1st level, such as a new character created to replace a dead one. Characters in this latter case should spend no more than half their total wealth on any single item. For a balanced approach, PCs built after 1st level should spend no more than 25% of their wealth on weapons and 25% on armor and protective devices.

Table: Character Wealth By Level

Published adventures.

Published adventures are a busy Game Master’s best friend. Not only do they allow you to sit down and start playing quickly without coming up with intricate storylines or cool encounters in advance, but by studying how they’re put together, you can hone your own adventure-creating skills. A published adventure is the script that lets you, as the GM, focus on the directing and acting portions of your job. It’s important to remember, however, that the writer of a published adventure doesn’t know your group or their characters. If your players are all paranoid, then an adventure involving an unexpected betrayal by a friendly NPC may not work as well. Similarly, if one of your characters has a deep hatred for necromantic elebrians, her player may have more fun if you change the villain from a member of the Aspis Consortium to an agent of the Bone Sages. Customizing adventures to your group is an easy way to raise the stakes in your game and make things feel more personal.

If you’re interested in published adventures, Paizo’s Starfinder Adventure Path products offer finely crafted adventures that are tied together into epic six-part campaigns. For more information, visit paizo.com.

Starfinder is a roleplaying game of interplanetary travel and exploration, and it assumes that most adventures will start with PCs either already having or quickly gaining access to a starship. But starships are expensive—what’s to stop them from simply selling their starship and retiring, or using the money to buy gear far too powerful for their level?

The answer is you, the GM. Starships are not considered part of character wealth and thus are not intended to be sold (unless it’s part of a trade-in to obtain a different starship). How to frame this is up to you. Some GMs may prefer to simply tell the players not to sell the ship because it would ruin the game. If you need an in-character reason, however, there are many: The ship could be the equivalent of a company car from whatever patron or faction the PCs are working for. It could be a family heirloom they’re contractually not allowed to sell. It could be stolen and thus unsellable without getting the PCs arrested. It could have a hyperintelligent AI that’s bonded to its crew and doesn’t allow itself to be sold. Whatever the justification, the real answer is that starships are just too much fun to restrict to high-level play. (Though if you want to play an entire campaign on one planet or simply have PCs pay for passage when they need to get somewhere, that’s fine, too!)

Running the Game

Addressed below are several of the common situations and issues that you’ll invariably need to handle during the game.

It is up to you, as the GM, to determine the DCs of the various skill checks the players will attempt during play. Many of the skill descriptions include guidance on typical DCs for skill checks, but there may be times when you need to come up with a DC on your own. If a skill check does not have a predetermined DC, or if a player wants to attempt a task that is not covered in a skill’s description, use the following guidelines. A challenging DC for a skill check is equal to 15 + 1-1/2 × the CR of the encounter or the PCs’ Average Party Level (APL). For an easier check, you might reduce the DC by 5, while increasing the DC by 5 makes for a more difficult check. Changing the DC by 10 or more makes for either a trivial check with little chance of failure or a prohibitively high check with little chance of success, so be cautious when adjusting skill check DCs!

Rolling and Fudging

Player cheating can ruin a game, but as a GM, you may sometimes find yourself in situations where cheating might actually improve the game. We prefer to call this “fudging” rather than cheating, and while you should try to avoid it when you can, you are the law in your game and shouldn’t feel bound by the dice. A GM should be impartial and fair, and in theory, that’s what random dice results help support. At the same time, you’re trying to create a compelling story, and if fudging a given roll makes a scene more fun and satisfying for the players in the end—go for it! It’s no good if a single random roll of the dice would result in a premature end to your campaign or in a character’s death when the player did everything right. However, be wary of using fudging to nullify players’ achievements. Remember that you’re playing with the group, not against it. Maybe you didn’t expect the players to take down your villain so quickly, but as long as they had fun, who cares?

An easy way to avoid getting called out on your fudging is to make your dice rolls behind a GM screen, so that players can’t see the results. But don’t worry overmuch about being “caught.” As the GM, your responsibility is to the experience, not the dice. But if you elect to roll your dice in the open, you still shouldn’t show a die roll that would give a player knowledge that their character wouldn’t have, such as a saving throw for a disease a character doesn’t know she’s been exposed to.

In addition to not being bound by die rolls, don’t feel tied to the predetermined plot of an encounter or the rules as written. Feel free to adjust the events or interpret the rules creatively, especially in cases where you as the GM made a poor assumption to begin with. For example, you might design an encounter where a pack of demons have invaded a space station through a planar rift, only to realize too late that none of the PCs have good-aligned weapons and thus deal very little damage. In this case, it’s okay to “cheat” and say these particular demons are hurt by normal weapons, or have a chaplain of Iomedae show up at the last moment to bless the PCs’ weapons. As long as you can keep such ad-hoc developments to a minimum, these on-the-spot adjustments can even enhance the game—perhaps the church of Iomedae now demands a favor from the PCs, sparking a new adventure!

Debates over rules inevitably drag a game down and should be put to rest as quickly as possible. As the GM, you set the law of your game, and your interpretation of the rules is the one that matters most. When complications regarding rules interpretations occur, listen to the players involved and strive to be fair, but don’t feel like you need to convince them. If the rule in question isn’t one you’re familiar with, you can go with a player’s interpretation, perhaps with the caveat that you’ll read up on the rule after the game and make an official ruling going forward from the next session. Alternatively, you can simply rule that something works in a way that helps the story move on.

One handy tool to keep on hand is the GM fiat: simply give a player a +2 bonus or a –2 penalty to a die roll if no one at the table is precisely sure how a situation might be handled by the rules. For example, a character who attempts to trip a robot in a room where the floor is magnetized could take a –2 penalty to his attempt, at your discretion, since the magnetic pull exerted by the floor anchors the construct.

Player Character Death

Eventually, through bad luck or bad tactics, a player character is going to die, or else suffer some similarly permanent fate such as petrification or being shot into deep space at relativistic speeds. A player character’s death doesn’t need to be a terrible experience. In fact, going out in a blaze of glory can become a dramatic highlight for the player and the group as a whole!

When a character dies, try to resolve the current conflict or combat as quickly as possible. Once that’s handled, take the player aside for a moment and find out whether she’d prefer for the group to try to save her character or simply create a new one.

You aren’t required to let a dead character return to life. Sometimes dead is dead—and a horror-themed game often benefits from a sense of danger—but it’s nice to take a player’s feelings into account. If it’s possible for the party to get a character raised or reincarnated, don’t delay it with additional encounters; just gloss over the return to civilization so you can get the player back into the game as quickly as possible. If you’d rather treat the situation as the seed for a side quest, consider offering to let the PC play an established NPC for the rest of the session so she isn’t bored. A PC death is a great time to end the session, since you can then handle unresolved issues out of game and get the player back in the action by the start of the next session.

If the player of a dead character instead prefers to move on to a new character, consider the NPC option above to keep her entertained for the rest of the session, or let her create her new character there at the table. Once the player’s new character is done, let the other players take a 5-minute break while you step aside to talk to the player, learn about her new character, and work out a way to introduce the new party member quickly.

One other thing that PC death can do is bloat the surviving characters’ treasure. If a party simply splits up or sells a dead PC’s gear, the group can become obscenely overgeared for its level. Thus, it’s usually easier to simply assume that the dead PC’s personal gear (though not necessarily important story items belonging to the group) is destroyed, lost, or otherwise goes away.

Difficult Players

As with any group activity, sometimes you’ll run into a troublemaker. Don’t be shy about politely and firmly asking a player to alter his behavior if he’s being inappropriate, antagonistic, or otherwise annoying—and don’t accept “But I’m just acting how my character would!” as an excuse. If a player (or character) is negatively impacting the rest of the group’s experience and won’t change his behavior when asked, it’s your duty as the Game Master to tell him to leave.

Campaign Journal

Having a record of each session’s events can help you remember details and keep a sense of continuity. Consider taking notes during a game or getting a player who’s excited about such things to write up a campaign journal summarizing each adventure. These can also be distributed to remind players where you left off.

Ending the Campaign

Starfinder goes up to 20th level, but that doesn’t mean your campaign has to. The most important thing in a campaign is to end it at a point that’s satisfying for the story, such as when a major storyline wraps up or after a climactic battle with a longtime foe. After each significant adventure arc, discuss as a group whether you’d rather continue with these characters or start something entirely new. Some people like to play many short adventures with different characters, while others like to run the same campaign for years. There’s no wrong answer!