The Modular Design of Starfinder's Summon Creature Spell

The Modular Design of Starfinder's Summon Creature Spell

Summoning pets is one of my favorite things, whether as a GM or as a player. As a player, you get a chance to play with all kinds of toys from the monster manual that would normally never be on your side of a conflict. As a GM, it gives me a reason to have monsters appear from unexpected places to alter the dynamic on the battlefield. In both cases, they can act as force multipliers that enhance the effects of many abilities.

Note: when I say "summoner" I mean any character focused on summoning, not any specific class or build.

I've played a lot of RPGs, and, in my opinion, the two best versions of summoning spells are 5th edition's and Starfinder's, for very different reasons. Like everything in the 5th edition, their summon spells are easy to use and straightforward. You pick one of the options from the book, look it up and use it as is, no templates needed.

Starfinder's is more elegant, in my opinion, but overall more complex. You take the base elemental stat blocks and apply the appropriate summon "graft" (template by another name) to that stat block, which turns it into the monster you want to summon. The base stat block for each level of the summon spell is the same; the only thing that changes is which summon graft you apply to the stat block.

The thing I love about that design is that Starfinder reuses the concept in several other places. Rather than trying to design thousands of new animals for every world you might visit, they came up with a set of "herd animal" stat blocks, and a set of "Predator animal" stat blocks. You merely need to apply an "environment" graft to the stat block, and suddenly, you have a brand new animal for that new world you just discovered. Give it a description unique to itself, and you are ready to rock out with a new animal.

What does that have to do with the summon creature spell? Well, the intrepid homebrewer has the opportunity to re-flavor a summoner by switching out the elemental stat blocks they were using for their summon spells, and replace them with the herd or predator animal stat blocks. The CR of each level of the spell is relatively close, but not exact, but it still works out pretty well, especially if you are more interested in new flavors than you are in more power.

Let's compare the CR levels between each set of blocks: 

Summon Creature Spell Level	Elemental CRs (size)	Herd Animal CRs (size)	Predator Animal CRs (size)
1	1/3 (tiny)	1/3 (small)	1/3 (small)
2	1 (small)	1/2 (medium)	1 (medium)
3	3 (medium)	2 (large)	2 swarm
4	5 (large)	4 (Huge)	4 (large)
5	7 (huge)	6 (Gargantuan)	7 (huge)
6	11 (huge)	8 (Colossal	10 (gargantuan)

As you can see, the herd and predator animals may get larger sizes faster, or in once case, even get swarms, but they are universally at lower CRs. To help make up for this, you would still add the environmental graft, then also add the summoning graft for the type of monster you want to those stat blocks. And possibly, add a simple alignment graft on top of that.

Why would you do this? It creates the opportunity to make summoners flavored to summon creatures from their homeworlds. Imagine a summoner summoning a "large inevitable wildebeest" with an arc cannon on it's back! Or another summoner is pulling out the glowing shadow jaguar that haunts the jungles of his home. Or simply to flavor a summoner in a way that fits them just right, like a Dromada "Herd" summoner who only summoned herd animals. 

It adds a ton of flavor you as the GM, or your players can use to flesh out their summoners. And the best part is, the last component of Starfinder's summon creature spell is that you pick four creatures from each spell level to summon, so you don't need to worry about option overload in your summoner's at the table, in-game. The player makes these choices before you get to the game!

If you really want to mix things up, you could go so far as to let a player use the CR appropriate stat-line of the NPC maker, and have them apply a whole different set of grafts to them as their summons. You could help a player build an Eoxian necromancer, by letting them use appropriate undead grafts in place of normal summons. You could let a player summon dragons by letting them apply the various dragon grafts to the appropriate stat block instead of a summon graft. Or Mephits, or…  well, I think you get the picture.

All of that leads me to the next interesting thing you can do: use specific summoning combinations as rewards. If you have a summoner in your party, you can have them find the journal of a long-dead conjurer, who discovered a method to summon the "strange beasts of the plains of the world of  Egilothorian." If they read it, they could add the specific combination of stat block and graft(s) that you have put together to their list of known summons. For the summoning enthusiast, this could be just the thing to excite them. (As a side note, you can also use this idea with Polymorph forms as rewards)

Now, some links before I move on, to help you all look into this yourselves and decide if you want it in your universe:

• Summon Creature 
• Elemental Stat Blocks 
• Herd Beast Stat Blocks
• Predator Animal Stat Blocks
• Summon, Environment, Simple Grafts, and Other types
• Elemental Grafts if you summon the actual elementals

Some Further Advice on Summoners

So that's all fine and dandy, but I feel like I'd be doing a disservice if I didn't include some advice for avoiding the bog-down that summoners can bring to a game. It's one of the most common complaints against summoners and has gotten them banned from many a game. Since it's one of my favorite things to play with, I'd like to offer some advice to help players avoid the pitfalls. I've come up with a series of rules that, if followed, should keep your table happy with you!

1        Use lots of dice, and color code them to different purposes.

This one comes from my experience in large scale tabletop wargaming. When you have 100 models on the table that you need to move and fight with, you find ways to optimize the process to take as little time as possible. One of the most important things you can do is roll as many of the dice as possible at the same time. Until you go through it, you may not believe how much time this can save you.

Have one dice set for yourself, and have another dice set for every monster you have on the field. Roll the d20s to attack and other dice for damage, for yourself, and all your summons at the same time. Since they are different sets for different creatures, you already know which damage dice applies to which d20 roll.

Fortunately, as a gamer, you were already working on a dice addiction, now you have the justification you need to indulge it!

2        During everyone else's turn, prepare for your next one. Never spend any time during your own turn trying to decide what to do.

Seriously, you have 5+ monsters on the field; you need to find and pick up all the dice you are going to roll for them and decide what each of their targets are. As people take their turns and the battlefield adjusts, adjust your plans. Know which enemy is each of your monster's target, or which ally each will support. The more you plan during their turns, the less time your own will take.

3        Your summoned creatures are disposable. Treat them like they are.

Seriously, if they die, you can just summon more until you run out of spells, summon grenades, spell gems, and spell chips. Your creatures can eat up enemy attacks of opportunities freeing your companions to out-maneuver the enemy safely. They can move into dangerous flanking positions helping your allies land blows without putting themselves in excessive danger. They can tank overwatch attacks since you don't need to heal them. They can scout possibly trapped areas. Think of them as independent pools of HP that can soak up the enemy's attempts to hurt you and your friends' pools of HP.

4        Be able to communicate with anything you can summon.

If you don't know it's language, all your summon can do is attack the closest enemy. If you do know it's language, it can do pretty much anything you tell it to do. That makes even your first level summons useful well into the later levels. After all, you can summon a low-level robot to reload your allies' weapons or inject their serums into them, so they don't have to spend actions doing it themselves.

5        Use your summons to support your party, not to flood the battlefield with bodies.

Have you ever watched a trained tactical squad moving through a warzone taking out their enemy? Your summons should be part of that tactical squad, not competing with it. I'll mention again eating enemy attacks of opportunity, and moving into dangerous flanking positions. Those are both things you can do to support your party while still being committed to an all-out attack. You don't even need to choose between both support and offense. Do both. 

If you DO ever have to choose, choose support every time. The reason is, the summons you can get will always be inferior, offensively, to any of your party members. So if you choose offense over support, you are deciding to try for an inferior attack, at the expense of a superior one. But if you do things to boost the likelihood of your companions succeeding in their attack, you are maximizing the damage output of the party. I can't stress this enough.

The other thing it does is alleviate a lot of the annoyance that may build up over the longer turns you have due to the extra creatures under your control. No one ever hates support. Your party will know that their turn will be more successful because of the extra time you took and that always feels good. It's a form of passive diplomacy. Still, try to minimize the time you spend on your turn.

6        Prioritize speed over perfection. Your turns don't have to be perfect. You have more bodies to throw at the problem, so your margin of error is larger.

You want to play with your friends. To do that, they have to feel like everything is fair. For everything to be fair, you can't have most of the time spend centered on you. Do you best to make sure you don't take up more time than you have to, because it is easy to fall into the trap of taking up ALL the time, and that will kill your game.

If you can follow these rules, you should be able to play a summoner without tripping into any of the pitfalls. If you can't, consider carefully if playing a summoner is really the right fit for you. Especially you perfectionists who take a long time to decide what to do on your turns.

That's it for now. I hope it's useful and entertaining for all of you.

By the way, if you want to read more random things on the subject of summoning, check out these other authors: 

Owen KC Stephen's take on summoning in the GammaFinder and FreedomFinder settings for Starfinder.

One of Owen's homebrew relics, focused on summoning in Pathfinder 1st Edition.

An adventure idea of Owen's where the PCs are the summoned creatures.

Take a glimpse into the imagination of Clinton Boomer as he presents a summoning feat for the dark and dangerous world of Bloodlines and Black Magic for Pathfinder 1st Edition..

Neil Litherland discusses the strategic use of Summon Monster in Pathfinder.

and more that will be added later. 

This blog uses trademarks and/or copyrights owned by Paizo Inc., which are used under Paizo's Community Use Policy. We are expressly prohibited from charging you to use or access this content. This blog is not published, endorsed, or specifically approved by Paizo Inc. For more information about Paizo's Community Use Policy, please visit paizo.com/communityuse. For more information about Paizo Inc. and Paizo products, please visit paizo.com.

Character Conversions: A Whole Party for the Really Wild West

Character Conversions: A Whole Party for the Really Wild West

Today I am not doing just one character conversion, but a whole party of them! Inspired by Owen KC Stephens’ Really Wild West setting for Starfinder, I pulled characters from tall tales, myths, and even historical legends. These four characters represent my favorites, the ones I would want to play in that kind of setting. In some of these cases, I added my own spin to their myths. I like looking for connections and putting them together. In these cases, I’ve added bits here and there to bring them together into a single story. I hope that doesn’t offend everyone, that’s not my intention, and I apologize if I cross a line I didn’t see. If I do, please, point it out to me! I’m always willing to learn and correct my missteps.

Coyote

Coyote's Gift by EchoGreens on DeviantArt

Starting off my list is Coyote, of native American myth and legend. And ancient trickster spirit and teacher... usually both roles at the same time. Coyote varies between malicious and benevolent in almost equal proportions. Interestingly enough, as a shapeshifter, Coyote even changed sex. Stories of the shapeshifter’s exploits range across North and Central America. Even the Aztecs knew of him.

One of the most notable things about Coyote is that in most of the stories, he approaches most mortals as relative equals. Coyote will entreat, bargain, cajole, seduce, convince, or curse them not as some god watching over them, but among them as if both parties had a right to be there and make their own decisions in every interaction between them. Coyote was NEVER a ruler over humans. They could even kill him... though, unlike mortals, being killed was somewhat less permanent for Coyote.

It’s that part that made me comfortable deciding to use the shapeshifter as one of the characters in this party; that this is just one more of the stories of Coyote’s exploits.

So what class and race to start? Since this is already going to be long due to including four characters, I won’t go over every option; I’ll be a bit more direct. Coyote was an extremely persuasive individual, with enough skill and knowledge in enough areas to be a successful and believable trickster nearly anywhere. In many stories, the trickster clearly used magic. So after examining the options, I decided to make him an Envoy, with the Magical Exploit alternate class feature from the Character Operations Manual. Owen made a race for his setting that fit’s perfect: the Fenrun. Coyote is an Arbeiter breed.

So far, Coyote will have one spell per spell level (max spell level 4), with the option to trade expertise talents for additional spells known. It also says Coyote will be able to use any variable level spells they know with any spell level it could normally be cast at. I don’t think I will need to pick up too many spells to represent this creature’s capabilities, so I pick up the Convincing Liar, Expert Advice, Gregarious Mien, Slick Customer, and Saving Expertise. If you ever feel like Coyote needs more spells at a level, you can always trade one or more of those for an additional spell slot at one level. He’ll select Token Spell, Polymorph, Mystic Cure, Bestow Curse, and Planar Binding. Polymorph will cover all the shapes change shape doesn’t. The rest of these spells represent powers displayed at various times in the stories, including trapping his fellow spirits.

For improvisations, I would pick Clever Feint, Frustrating Target, Not in the face, Spell Gem Understanding, Infuriating Target, Clever Improvisation, Hidden Agenda, Situational Awareness, Dispiriting Taunt, Quick Dispiriting Taunt, and Universal Expression. Coyote isn’t the greatest team player ever, but this set of improvisations wouldn’t necessarily depend on a team. Instead, it focuses more on disrupting the enemy than it does on enabling your team—just the sort of thing you could expect from a trickster.

Now, for ability scores, I am going to start Coyote off at 12 Strength, 12 Dexterity, 8 Constitution, 13 Intelligence, 13 Wisdom, and 14 Charisma. At 5th level, the boosts would go into Con, Int, Wis, and Cha. At 10, 15, and 20, the boosts would go into str, dex, con, and cha. The reason for this spread is to enable certain feats early on. Likely you would invest in personal augmentations to boost your primary combat stat and HP as early as possible to mitigate the low con and to-hit scores.

For feats, I’m giving the old shapeshifter Toughness to help mitigate the low HP they are will have at the beginning. Improved Feint, Improved Demoralize, Sense Assumptions, and Intuit Relationships to help solidify their ability to manipulate and persuade. Might as well add in Spell Feint, later on, to help Bestow Curse land unexpectedly. And Polymorph Adept is only appropriate for one of the mythology’s most notorious shapeshifters. But most importantly, as soon as they become available, I am giving Coyote Connection Inkling, Technomantic Dabbler, Reality Glimmer. That gives six at-will cantrips and three extra 1st level spells, with up to 6 castings each per day, depending on your level. I would choose Charming Veneer, Hazard, Mending, Transfer Charge, Ghost Sounds, and Detect Magic for the Cantrips. The other three spells would be Build Trust, Comprehend Languages, and Holographic Projection.

That adds up into a package that can rely on wits and charm in and out of combat to disrupt, destabilize, and manipulate opponents. As someone who wanders around teaching people lessons, they’ve got everything they need.

Pecos Bill

 

An illustration by Laurie A. Conley

That brings us to the next character on the list: Pecos Bill, abandoned as a child and raised by coyotes... wait, coyotes? Coincidence? Nope! In my version of this character, he wasn’t just raised by coyotes, Coyote himself raised him. Reading through his exploits, I can only imagine Coyote laughing his mythological bum off as he watches the cowboy he raised go at the world. Only someone raised by Coyote would use a snake as a lasso, try (successfully I might add) to ride tornadoes, or try to profess his love to someone by shooting all the stars out of the sky. Did I mention he was also a Texan? Sounds completely crazy, but the more I thought about this nutjob, the more I realized I wanted to make this character. I mean, I could attribute almost everything in his story to something I have seen some RPG character try at some point.

To get started though: his race is pretty easy, he’s just another human. His class is a little harder to pin down exactly, because everyone uses guns, and can even ride animals. My initial thought was that we could rule out any intelligence-based character. Still, the more I thought about it, the more I realized despite his activities seeming like they were complete insanity, a mechanic or technomancer might be able to pull every one of them off. The more I considered it, the more I leaned towards technomancer. That meant he wasn’t really insane, just brilliant in a way that leads others to believe he was insane in a way only a Texan could be.

Now, before I get into building the rest of the details, I am going to point out two of his feats from tall tales and focus on them: He wrangled tornadoes and rode them, and he shot all the stars out of the sky to impress someone. Rather than just saying “he lied about those,” I realized there was a way he really could have. A figment spell could pretty easily accomplish shooting the stars out of the sky. And what if he wasn’t lassoing tornadoes, but instead he was lassoing air elementals in whirlwind form?

But riding the whirlwind form air elemental? What would be the effect? Damage every turn, off-target, flat-footed, and grappled. That’s a whole pile of penalties and restrictions, but I looked carefully, especially at the grappled condition. You can still do two things at the very least: shoot a small arm and throw a grenade. That is important because it is shaping up that Pecos Bill was an illusionist and summoner, and check out the list of grenades available: hologrenades, and summoning grenades. That tells me this little nutjob was a grenade specialist. Even with the pile of penalties one might get from hanging-out inside a whirlwind, it is pretty easy to put grenades where you want them. And if your illusions and summons are still coming despite being in the funnel, it’d be pretty impressive, especially if they can’t tell you are cheating with grenades. And if the whirlwind you are riding was there because it was your summoned elemental, it’s going to be cooperating with you just fine. You’ll still be taking damage from it, but we’ll see if we can find a way to mitigate that too. And the best thing: it can always turn back into air elemental form and let you ride it around that way as well.

So with all that in mind, let’s look at the class features and magic hacks available. Right off the bat, I’m going to say he has a Holographic Artist’s Cache Hack (an alternate feature from Character Operations Manual), as it provides some at-will holograms and permanent summons. Any summon monster two or higher is good enough for an air elemental that can produce a whirlwind big enough for a medium-sized creature to ride, so it all fits my image of this tall tale.

Technomancers come with a surprising number of magic hacks that would work well with a gunslinger/grenadier-esque sort of build. To start, though, I’ll give him Subtle Spells, as his tall tales tell me he’s got some sleight of hand going if no one picked up on the fact that he was casting spells the whole time. Shadow Grenade will reduce the cost of your grenade lobbing lifestyle a great deal as it lets your trade spell slots for free grenades. Fabricate Explosive can do the same, with fewer restrictions, and even help you get around some of Shadow Grenade’s restrictions. Spellshot gives you some interesting options for casting your spells by shooting them at people and having the point of impact be the spells point of origin. Enhance Weapon lets you trade spell slots to boost a weapon’s damage. Eternal spell lets you use Supercharged Weapon at will, without the limitations you would have using it from your spell cache. Seeking Shot lets you hit targets from inside your whirlwind even after it’s picked up enough debris that you have a hard time seeing. Lastly, rain of fire lets you just shoot everyone, all at once, like the crazy pistol-slinging Texan you are.

That leaves us some feats to pick. There are four feats I’d consider must-haves for anyone intending to use grenades heavily: Grenade Proficiency, Cook Grenade, Grenade Mastery, and Ricochet Grenade. Enhanced Resistance will seriously help mitigate the damage dealt to you inside any whirlwind you ride. It stands to reason that regularly riding air elementals would have you use to that kind of weather, so Environmental Adaptation (rain and snow, winds) seems appropriate. And if you are going to be casting from in there, you’ll need Combat Casting and Focused Spellcaster. And your remaining feats can go towards Weapon Focus Small Arms, Double Tap, Deadly Aim.

Alternatively, if you pay attention to the stories about him, he had several dangerous, wild animals at his beck and call, from the rope and lasso snakes, to his horse Widowmaker, and at one point he was even riding a cougar. So switching out some of these feats for any of the creature companion feats from Alien Archive 3 would also be appropriate.

Ability score-wise, Pecos is focused on Intelligence, Constitution, and Dexterity, covering his spells, HP, gunslinging, and sleight of hand. Skill-wise he’d invest in Mysticism, Engineering (to craft his own grenades when needed, and general explosive knowledge), Survival, Acrobatics, Athletics, Perception, and Sleight of Hand.

And that only leaves his spell list. At every level, he’s going to take the highest level of Summon Creature and Holographic Image available. Supercharge weapon, and Create Ammunition are must-haves for any aspiring gunslinger. Anyone riding an air elemental better take at least the first level Flight spell, and consider the higher levels as well. Patch Tech will help with your fixation on explosives. The Biotic Taclash spells would be a good substitute for the snakes Pecos used as lassos and ropes. Make Whole and Mend to keep your gear at it’s best. Mirror Image and Displacement are vital spells in any illusionist’s arsenal. The Resistant Armor spells may or may not help mitigate damage from riding your whirlwinds, depending on how quickly you pick up Enhanced Resistance. Arcing Surge, Chain Surge, Explosive Blast, and Heat Leech will be great when you get Spellshot. Planar Binding and Planar Barrier will let you summon some longer-lasting Air Elementals if you can bargain with them for service.

John Henry

That rounds out my favorite American tall-tale and gets us ready to move on to the next member of this party. Now that we have the father-son duo of a trickster spirit and an insane Texan, we need some more reasonable party members to reign them in a bit and bring some sanity to their adventures. Now, there is one American tall-tale that we have records of not only having lived but of having done exactly what made him famous. That man is John Henry, an African American steel driver who competed with a machine... and won. Other legendary figures in American folklore never managed that last part. Paul Bunyan, for example, lost his contest. Who better to reign in the crazier party members than someone who can take on impossible odds and win?

Now, you might point out that John Henry won, but then his heart gave out immediately after, and he died. That’s where I add my own spin to his tale. I say the wording is critical. His “heart gave out” and “he died.” What if those were two entirely separate events, but some deceptive individual says them together on purpose, knowing the listener would assume the worst, that he died because his heart gave out... but that’s not what the tale says. He beat the machine when the company he worked for was testing it to see if they could start replacing skilled workers with a machine they wouldn’t have to pay. He won, but what if the company decided the difference still made the machine the better choice? “Your heart gave out” can also mean you lost faith. So maybe John Henry simply lost faith in the company he had worked so hard for, only to be betrayed by that same company. And the “he died” part, that’s merely an acknowledgment that he’s mortal. They never said when he died. In the story I’m weaving here, he certainly didn’t die immediately. He simply left. He traveled west, looking for a new life. One day he met the strangest pair while fending off a Martian Tripod. After helping them topple it and free its prisoners, the African American steel-driving titan has been with them ever since. Sometimes he wonders about the father, though. That man reminds him of the spider Anansi an awful lot, of whom his grandmother used to tell him stories.

One of the interesting things Owen has done with his Really Wild West setting is that when he added races, he didn’t replace existing cultures with them, he added them. That means all human cultures are still present. Because of this, I see no reason to spend any time considering a race for John Henry, he’s human, through and through.

Now, what I never understood when I was a child, is that as a “steel-driving man” what Henry was doing was making the holes for dynamite to create passes and tunnels for the railroad. That means he had to understand not only how to break a thing, but how to break it exactly how you want it broken. You could almost say he worked very closely with entropy. John Henry is a Vanguard, straight out of Character Operations Manual.

As someone whose job it was to put steel rods through rock and stone with little more than muscle power, John’s first vanguard aspect is going to be Exergy, and his second will be Cascade. This form of mastery over entropic forces is why he beat the machines other tall tales failed to. John Henry’s disciplines are Antagonize and Swift Antagonize, Dampen, Energize, Friendly Fire, Flatten Bullets,

Blindsense, Blindsight, Accelerate, and Living Effigy. His skills are focused on Profession Mining, Athletics, Intimidate, Engineering, Physical Science, and Perception. His ability scores should focus on strength and constitution entirely to start, and when you level up high enough to get increases, add dexterity and wisdom.

The feats I select for him are going to focus on how quickly, accurately, and powerfully he can deliver blows. Improved Initiative and Constant Alert represent that he’s fast off the block. Deadly Aim, Lunge, and Penetrating Attack cover his powerful strikes. Weapon Focus, Cleave, and Great Cleave show that he can move from one target to another swift and smoothly. That leaves a couple of feats to customize how you want. I recommend versatile specialization, so you can apply weapon specialization to the excavation lasers his skill in mining makes him proficient with. Toughness could be another great choice to round out his build.

And there you have him, John Henry, a man who can drive steel through stone faster than a machine. He’s left the railroad and found new friends in the deep west. Friends who respect and value his prowess and value him as a person. Our party just needs one more person to be complete.

Bessie Coleman

Have you ever heard of Bessie Coleman? She was born in Texas but dreamed of flying. With no opportunities in the United States for any such dream, she saved up, went to Europe, and returned not only with a handful of firsts and an international sport aviator license, including being the first African-American female aviator, but also the first Native American one too. She performed dangerous and dazzling aerial stunts for shows, and even test flew planes. Till one day, test-flying a new aircraft, she died when it crashed.

Like John Henry, that’s where I come in. She was thrown from the plane and died on impact. It was found that a wrench used to service the plane had jammed the controls. Now, in reality, her body was recovered. That’s what I am changing. She survived the fall, knowing her plane was sabotaged; that someone tried to kill her. It would be a while before she hit the ground because she fell into the grasp of an air elemental being stalked by Pecos Bill. When he saw it had trapped someone in its funnel, the hunt ended, and a chase began. He chased it down the coast, through Mississippi, then Alabama, and finally into Texas. It continued until it all came to a head when a Martian Tripod killed the elemental with its deathray. That’s where Bessie finally finished falling to the ground. Though she was injured, she joined the people fighting off the tripod, finishing it off before collapsing from her injuries.

During her recovery, she bonded with the strange group, and from that time on, she regarded the other three as brothers-in-arms. She joined in their adventures. She salvages what she can from the martian machines, always trying to build a new airplane for herself. She believes the martian nanotech is the key to making an un-sabotage-able plane, and she intends to show the people who tried to kill her a thing or two when she eventually returns.

Bessie Coleman is a human drone mechanic. The plane she is trying to build is her drone, which has incorporated portions of the martian tripod’s AI, patched together with code of her own. Her custom Rig takes the form of a utility belt. Her mechanic tricks are Repair Drone, Portable Charging Station, Overclocking, Hyperclocking, Overcharge, Improved Overcharge, Superior Overcharge x4. Her stats would focus on intelligence and constitution first, then dexterity and charisma. Her feats are Three Point Stance, Sky Jockey, Toughness, Diehard, Environmental Adaptation (cold dangers, thin atmosphere, smoke effects, winds), Double Tap, Amplified Glitch, Enhanced Resistance (kinetic), Mobility, Shot on the Run

  

Bessie's Drone resembles these robots from the movie "Skycaptian and the World of Tomorrow."

Her Combat Drone will take mods that will help it act as a flying machine. Riding Saddle, Flight System x2, Enhanced Armor, Medical Subroutine, Skill Unit (Medicine), Speed x4. The drone’s feats will be Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization, Mobility, Shot on the Run, Deadly Aim, Penetrating Attack, Far Shot, Extra Resolve.

I think she perfectly rounds out this party. She can join Pecos’s Skyborne insanity with a bit more of a rational (and safer) approach. She complements John Henry’s technical expertise. And with her Native American roots, she has a chance to get to know a figure from her ancestor’s mythology.

I’ll conclude this post with a question: if you were going to bring a Tall Tale to life in Owen’s Really Wild West, who would you pick?

 This blog uses trademarks and/or copyrights owned by Paizo Inc., which are used under Paizo's Community Use Policy. We are expressly prohibited from charging you to use or access this content. This blog is not published, endorsed, or specifically approved by Paizo Inc. For more information about Paizo's Community Use Policy, please visit paizo.com/communityuse. For more information about Paizo Inc. and Paizo products, please visit paizo.com.

Investor Players and Investments as Rewards

Investing in Organizations Within Your Game

Couldn't find artist, will update if that changes.

In all my time playing RPGs, one question has bothered me a lot longer than others:

How can players play rich, wealthy, affluent characters…

…without it unbalancing the game.

Now, some of the more abstract RPGs out there have no problem with this. But if the gear is a major factor in the character’s advancement, then how wealthy they are becomes a major factor in-game balance.

That becomes even more true in science fiction games that have starships. If the players can simply sell a starship, they could then just gear themselves to the max and blow that balance out of the game.

Every game handles this balance differently. Most games, however, strictly limit the wealth available to the player in addition to any other method they use. Restricted wealth means that accurately portraying a wealthy character can become problematic.

That leads me to today’s discussion. How can I let a player become the wealthy, affluent character they want to play…  and how can I do that without upsetting any previously existing game balance?

I’ve struggled with those questions for a long time. It wasn’t until I started playing the Starfinder Roleplaying Game that I was inspired to the answer. You see, Starfinder solved the issue of starships being sold to gear up the party by completely divorcing them from the energy credit economy players use and spend. Players don’t spend money on their starships. Instead, acquisition, maintenance, and even modification of them get handled in-game through roleplaying. You get a starship because that’s where the story took you. You get rid of the salvaged starship you towed to port by making a deal with someone who can use it. And you modify a starship by rearranging how you spent points on it… because it gets a certain number of points each level, so the starship will always be advancing with the party, but no money is actually spent on it.

When the game released, that decision was pretty controversial. In fact, it was so controversial that on some forums, even asking about how many credits a starship is worth can enrage some of the old-timers. They got sooooo tired of seeing that debate dominate their platforms. But that system is where I got my inspiration. 

If there is one truism about wealthy people, it is that they don’t leave their money sitting; they put it to work generating more of it. They invest. So if a player wants to be a wealthy, affluent character, they don’t need money; they need investments. Once I realized that I instantly realized that the way Starfinder handled starships was EXACTLY how to handle investments too: utterly divorce them from the player money economy.

I could then give out an “Investment” as part of the treasure/reward after an adventure, and the players could leverage that investment to get perks and advantages within the organization they invest in.

That was the easy part. It was working out how that took a while longer.

Here is what I decided:

Each investment would have a tier between 1 and 3 based on its nature. That tier would determine the types of perks it could earn from the company you invest it in.

That meant each organization would also need three tiers of rewards. Then each tier would need some form of advancement so the more of that tier you invest in, the more you get from your growing investments.

Lastly, each company would have different aspects you could invest in, which would provide different kinds of perks.

Tiers of Investment

 In my opinion the best way to divide the tiers up was by a combination of how significant it is and how much effort the company you are investing in has to go through to make use of it.

With that in mind, the first tier is “Opportunities” or “Leads.” You’ve found some new revenue stream the organization can take advantage of, but they are going to have to do all the work to do so.

The second, middle tier is “Sums.” These are some volume of cash or product put directly into their control. A donation essentially. While valuable, and takes little effort to take advantage of, when you are talking about star-spanning megacorps, no lump sum is actually going to be significant to the whole organization. This is also the tier I have salvaged starships at. They take some effort to repair, but are quite valuable to an interstellar organization.

The last tier is “Territory” or “Control” of something. Acquiring exclusive trading rights in a region of space is more valuable than any lump sum donation could ever be. Claiming a planet and providing it for the organization’s use is also the sort of investment in that organization that will catapult you into the ranks of its most valuable members. Turning a local government into figureheads for the board of directors is another example. You aren’t just donating monetary value; you are donating power and reach.

The loot rewards you give that include investments can have different values within its tier even. A 3-point tier 1 investment is simply the equivalent of 3 tier 1 investments.

Investment Rewards

Okay, so that covers the types of investments, but what can you invest in?

I divided each company into three broad categories: Social, Materials, and R&D. The investor chooses which of those areas of the organization to invest in. From there, each of those areas is divided into three tiers, matching the three investment tiers. Investing a tier 1 investment in materials will always go to tier 1 under Materials for that company.

The rewards I use in Starfinder for each tier under each area are as follows: 

Social

Social rewards take the form of the company bestowing prestige upon the investor. The more you invest, the more you’ll be rubbing elbows with the rich and powerful.

1.   Reactions-members of the company have a default attitude of friendly towards the investor. They probably don’t recognize you on sight, but once you show your credentials, the company will be more than happy to help it’s investors any way they can.

2.   Networking-members of the company are willing to introduce the investor to their strategic partners. You’ve earned the trust of the organization; they are willing to put their reputation on the line to back you when they introduce you to their strategic partners. (A strategic partner is a non-competing entity that provides and benefits from mutual help in business matters)

3.   Reputation-the investor becomes recognized on-site, gain a celebrity status within the company, and other companies WILL try to lure them away. You’ve changed the face of the game board, redrawn lines on the map, and done so to raise the organization above others. Even it’s enemies will know who you are.

Material

Material rewards take the form of a strategic partnership. The organization will begin backing your operations because your operations are helping them grow. Essentially, they are investing back into you when you invest in them, causing mutual growth.

1.   Facilities-the investor is given access to use company facilities for crafting and other things. The shop knows your face and knows what you’ve done for them. They’ll make time to help you out because they know their bottom line will be better for it.

2.   Equipment-The investor is given the ability to requisition company equipment for a mission. (your game’s normal item level restrictions would still apply). The organization is willing to back you with supplies and equipment because they are certain they will get more back from your exploits than it’ll cost them.

3.   Personnel-The company will loan the investor the services of its personnel for the duration of a mission, free of charge. The company is willing to be fully part of your operations. You scratch their back, and they scratch yours.

R&D (Research and Development)

R&D rewards are all about benefiting from the company’s research and development. They will keep your gear on the cutting edge of technology and magic.

1.   Organization Signature Gear-the company will apply that company’s signature manufacturer modification to the investor’s equipment free of charge any time it’s needed. You might even include a whole new weapon in this reward, if their current weapon is in serious need of upgrade, give them the closest tier of weapon in the same line as theirs, that doesn't go above their item level. For example, investing in AbadarCorp would result in upgrading your generic ranged weapons to AbadarCorp’s Defender line of ranged weapons. And if their weapon was an Azimuth Laser Pistol, but they are level 10, the company might give them a Defender-line Aphelion Laser Pistol to replace it.

2.   Customization Services-the company will provide and install one weapon accessory, fusion, or armor upgrade that that organization manufactures; and install it for each investor free of charge. (your game’s normal item level restrictions would still apply)

3.   Spell Chip Subscription-the company will allow the investor to join its spell chip subscription. Most major companies maintain one for its most valuable members. A Spell Chip Subscription is a curated list of spells the company maintains, coupled with the ability to plug spell chips into the list. They get refilled regularly with the spells on the list. I’ll go more into this topic in a future post.

Note: You might question whether giving gear or upgrades as gifts for your investments. As the GM, consider that you are giving the investments as quest/mission rewards. So it’s no different than giving those items as rewards, but with some extra steps and some specific flavoring.

Advancement

Your first rewards will only be at the local level. Eventually, as word gets around and you become known for a thing, your rewards will expand to a regional area. Once it hits the regional area, the rate at which you get recognized (and your reward applied) will expand even further until eventually you are known throughout the organization.

The rate it expands through the organization is what determines how fast your advance within the tier. And how fast that happens is determined by how big the organization is. The larger the organization, the longer it will take to advance.

My rule of thumb is to go by quarters. When you are still at the local level, putting a number of investments into the company equal to a quarter of the local branches will be enough that word about you has spread throughout the region. So you advance to the regional level. Once there, any future investments at that tier go by region, and putting a number equal to the number of regions will indicate that word has spread about you throughout the whole company/organization.

And that’s it, that’s my plan to let players become wealthy and affluent without unbalancing the credit economy. You can track investments in each company separately. I hope it’s useful to you all. Another time I’ll discuss how you can use this system to build up smaller organizations.

Another time I will discuss how you can use these investments to chart the growth of an organization, create plot hooks, and even start an organization

Sometimes your investments pay off big. Image is Anubis Mothership from Stargate SG-1

This blog uses trademarks and/or copyrights owned by Paizo Inc., which are used under Paizo's Community Use Policy. We are expressly prohibited from charging you to use or access this content. This blog is not published, endorsed, or specifically approved by Paizo Inc. For more information about Paizo's Community Use Policy, please visit paizo.com/communityuse. For more information about Paizo Inc. and Paizo products, please visit paizo.com.