#quorlu

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Magical Expertise Envoy (Envoy Alternate Class Feature)

(art by TSABER on DeviantArt)

I’ve said it before, but the envoy is very much the skill rogue to the operatives more traditional rogue, though there’s lots of overlap out there in various ways.

And that overlap includes the ability of both classes to tap into a little bit of magic!

Two weeks ago we took a look at the magical assassin operative, which uses magical empowerment instead of precision to deal extra damage, but now we’re looking at the magical expertise envoy, which specializes in more traditional “utility belt” rogue magic!

This alternate option alters their expertise, limiting its uses, but in exchange they gain a little bit of magical power drawn from the mystic spell list.

They might be diplomats or other skilled individuals that have magical talent but were too focused on other things to spend as much time perfecting their arts, or they might have picked up these skills later due to a dabbling interest or desire to round out their abilities. Either way, most use their magic in an almost gadgeteer-like fashion, pulling out the right spell for the job, be it bypassing a locked door, stopping combat with a hostile foe, or even blasting a foe with a surprise magical attack.

So let’s get right into it and take a look, shall we?

Unlike a normal envoy, today’s subject start out being able to use their expertise with mystical knowledge rather than reading others. However, they also gain limited spell knowledge, starting with one cantrip and eventually progressing up to fourth-level magics. However, each spell level has only enough energy for one apiece.

By putting the training they would put into talents back into their magic, however, they can learn another spell and develop a greater capacity of energy to cast.

Conversely, however, when they would use any ability that would require them to forgo their expertise die on a roll, they must expend a bit of their remaining magical energy, which you could flavor as them using a bit of magic to make it work due to their split focus on magic and mundane techniques.

The envoy class at it’s core is all about having clever solutions to every situation, and this alternate class feature is no different. You might focus on expertise talents that don’t have or have situational “forgo expertise die” to keep your spell slots, or not. As for spell choices, you are using the mystic spell list so there are a lot of good utility and buffing spells, so you can easily build with supporting your allies or your build directly as needed. You might even pick an offensive spell for a surprise attack, especially if that spell controls the battlefield in some way. Additionally, you might consider taking the feat chains that grant minor spellcasting from the other three magic classes, such as Technomantic Dabbler, Reality Glimmer, Time-touched, and the Stage Magic line for a truly versatile selection, all to become a magical problem-solver for the party.

Whether your character is Princess Leia or your average YA protag that has learned a little magic but otherwise relies on their non-magical skillset, there’s so many ways to play a magical dilletante or dabbler with this archetype, and all without multiclassing. But how do they feel about their status as minor mages? Perhaps they are self-conscious about not having been able to take their studies further, or maybe they scoff at dedicated mages, delving into esoteric secrets beyond the material world when the world is where all the fun is at?

Like many quorlu, Pungik is a deeply spiritual being and believes in reincarnation and the transmigration of the soul. As such, they believe their own minor magics are memories of their previous incarnation’s magical might. While no true mage themselves, they do make use of them in their role as a negotiator for their mining company.

When one of a pair of magician brothers returns from the grave as a mohrg, the party finds themselves in the middle of a gristly love triangle, as the undead brother believes that his sibling had him murdered to get him out of the way of wooing the woman they were both interested in, while the living brother claims it was just an ordinary mugging gone wrong. There is only a limited time to find the truth as the dead brother’s rage constantly threatens to overthrow his patience.

Thoroughly convinced it is his tutor’s incompetence, rather than any fault of his own, Brakus has flunked out of multiple schools of magic, learning the basics of multiple magical fields but lacking the patience to take them further. Convinced that he is destined to be a great archmage, he’s willing to seek any avenue for power, including those with grave consequences.

[graciedart]

ugh I’m gonna miss this show so much! androids and aliens has been such a treat but I can’t way to see what comes next too

[pyrogina]

Starfinder character dump6, cordova crew

Guillaum (draelik), Stroh (vlaka), and Klaax (quorlu)

[toasterpip]

18:  "Oh, you won't find a better engineer in the Diaspora. Just uh, watch his temper. The last person he saw as a problem to fix only just learned how to count to ten again."

19:  Quorlus are very strange critters. They're basically silicon-based magma snails, with odd numbers of limbs.

20:  Starfall was a... controversial movie. Most people dismissed it as a goofy action flick, but some Phentomites saw it as a gross appropriation of their culture.

[dailycharacteroption]

Class Feature Friday: Chronomancy Anchor (Precog Anchor)

(art by Dominik Mayer on Artstation)

 Ah, the precog, the fourth spellcasting class in Starfinder, introduced in Galactic Magic. The precog class are individuals with magical power to see the flow of time, letting them potentially see possible futures and how to guide others to those outcomes, in addition to their other magical abilities.

While there are certainly many applications for just seeing the future, ranging from long-term prophecy to seeing attacks coming to help avoid them, the precog is not just a diviner. Their ability to perceive the flow of time lets them manipulate it as well, altering it’s flow on certain beings, speeding them up or slowing them down, or even using it to attack, accelerating the effects of time and entropy to age foes to dust, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

However, all precogs need an anchor, something that acts as the source of their power and how they focus themselves, which in turn helps indicate some of their abilities.

Our first anchor we’ll be covering is chronomancy, referring to those precogs that were blessed (or cursed) with their abilities by a powerful being with a connection to time and it’s manipulation. Beings like the fey Eldest Shykka the Many, one of the many strange entities that dwell in the Dimension of Time like Ilee and siktemporae.

This power might have been directly granted, or perhaps inherited. Either way, these chronomancers likely view their powers as a mystical art to master rather than some innate ability that they struggle to control, though obviously there are exceptions. Either way, they may find their greatest insights in hidden occult lore associated with past (or future) chronomancers and the like.

 One of the distinct abilities of the precog is their ability to look into the threads of fate each day and guide themselves to favorable outcomes. This is represented by their pool of paradox dice, that they roll and record at the beginning of each day, choosing to substitute those recorded numbers on certain rolls. As they grow in power, precogs can use paradoxes on more and more things, but their anchor adds to that list, and once per day when they use a paradox on one of those focused areas, they regain a new paradox afterwards. In the case of chronomancers, their focal paradox lies in controlling their own magic, as well as one skill of their choice, both of which reflect their focus on mastering the flow of time and other skills.

Over time, their mastery improves, and these prophets learn to slow down time in their immediate vicinity just enough to possibly prevent foes from reacting to their actions or those of their allies. This is useful for getting the precog out of tight spots surrounded by enemies.

True masters learn to accelerate their own actions, potentially casting two spells in the space of a few moments. However, doing so puts a strain on them that makes them slow to act moments later.

The anchors don’t provide too many abilities since they can be further customized by temporal anomaly abilities, but this is a fun option for a back line precog that focuses mostly on spellcasting, what with their ability to use paradoxes to help bypass spell resistance and having an ability to duck out of close combat and cast two spells once a day. With that in mind, I’d choose options based on staying out of direct combat and supporting allies with buffs, debuffing foes, and so on.

 In the far future, time manipulation and time travel are no doubt explored both with magic and with science, so I can imagine some of these chronomancers working with technomancers and engineers eager to test the limits of those fields. However, I can also see others resisting such efforts, having taken on a guardian role of the time stream against wanton intrusion.

  On a volcanic world like Aukon, there are very few “permanent” natural wonders, most lasting a century at most before new activity destroys them. It was that fleeting nature that drove Boco, a quorlu geologist, to study chronomancy, seeking a way to be able to see one of a kind wonders that long vanished from their worlds.

 They say that time is thin on the spire of Mt. Nobrac, a dizzyingly tall and narrow spike on a distant world. Those studying the flow of time sometimes travel there to study the effects of the anomalies. However, one must be aware of the blood-drinking winged horrors that dwell near it, similar to the Niaqs of Verces.

 The party is suddenly attacked out of the blue by a mysterious figure that seems to know them, shouting something about “getting it right this time”. However, they have no memory of this being, who vanishes again once he is driven off.

[dailycharacteroption]

Class Feature Friday: Crusader Connection (Mystic Connection)

 We’ve seen it before with the arcane assailant, but here and there, the elements of the magical past of Pathfinder are still found in the far future of Starfinder. Today, we’re looking at how the call of the paladin has evolved in the science fantasy universe of the game through the lens of the mystic class. (Keep in mind that this is but one way to build a “holy warrior” type character)

Like all mystic connections, the crusader connection represents a bond, in this case, to the goodly gods and to the concepts of justice, fair law, mercy, and righteousness. A mystic of this connection might refer to themselves as a paladin, or they may eschew such archaic terminology. Regardless, they specialize in protecting others and bringing down divine wrath upon the wicked. Needless to say, this connection only resonates with the goodly.

While the gods have pulled further away from the mortal plane, their agents still seek to gain influence, which means that crusaders still have plenty of true fiends to fight, not just wicked mortals. Regardless, however, they will go wherever they are needed, facing evil of all stripes, for while their powers have changed, their resolve has not.

 The spells associated with this connection include various forms of protection for themselves and allies, turning blows back on foes and protecting others from physical, energized, and deathly attacks. Additionally, they have a spell for inspiring supernatural vigor in allies as well.

More adept at combat than most mystics, crusaders learn how to use advanced melee weapons to great effect.

As defenders of the innocent, these holy warriors make sure that the rare few attacks that make it to their charge do not go unpunished, reflexively attacking those who attack their charge, striking not to deal damage, but to throw their aim off for following attacks.

Like the paladins of old, they can also imbue their weaponry with the power to smite evil, though it works a bit differently in this age. Their weapons brim with holy power, being especially effective against the wicked, but additionally, critical blows against such foes with such a weapon are devastating to their bodily integrity, severing limbs or damaging organs in addition to any other special effect.

Additionally, by spending ten minutes, they can bless their weaponry with a longer-lasting blessing, imbuing the weapon with holy, lawful, or merciful enchantment, or enchanting a throwable weapon to return to their hand.

Fear and disease cause no pause for a paladin, and while not totally immune, the same is largely true for crusaders as well.

By expending resolve, they can even shed a powerful aura to share such protections with others as well.

In dire straits when either they or an ally is at risk of being brought low, these mystics can expend a tremendous amount of resolve to keep themselves or the ally just barely up and conscious.

If you wanna play a paladin-like character that boasts various protection spells and abilities, not to mention strong smiting potential, this connection might be exactly what you’re looking for. I recommend picking up heavy armor, or even power armor proficiency. A melee or mixed melee/ranged build complemented by buff, control, and damage spells can go a long way here.

 With a connection like this, one could easily imagine homebrewing an evil counterpart for an “antipaladin” connection, not to mention the plenty of connections that are already immoral in nature.

That being said, these mystics are likely very involved with various holy or knightly orders in the galaxy, so consider that when coming up with a backstory for your crusader, whether they are hunting the forcers of evil or spreading the light of their deity.

  Few forms of dedication are as profound as those that transend death, and though she remembers little, Remia knew her dedication to the lightbringer after arising as one of the half-dead varculak. Nicknamed “Inevitable” by her kin in arms, the former trox has become a juggernaut on the battlefield, shrugging off blows thanks to protective magic and undead durability alike.

 The volcanic quorlu are a peaceful race by nature, but they have their fair share of warfare. Some who seek peace choose to fight for others, following the path of the Purifier. Using spells of light and fire, they seek to remove wickedness like dross from a furnace.

 While big cities and busy planets are where their religions are most well-known, the Order of the Travelling Star, a collective of several members of various goodly religions, see their best work done by making pilgrimages to vulnerable fringe worlds, seeking to protect them from those that would prey upon colonists and undeveloped civilizations.