Troublemaker Beta – Hiroko

September 4, 2018

Welcome back to Card Catalog’s look at Starfinder.  As previously mentioned, the resulting characters are getting advanced all the way to Seventh Level and if you have not checked out the overview for this series the link is right here! Also, a reminder that I ignored the suggested wealth table to have more fun with the characters.  The last original member of the Troublemaker crew is Hiroko Benandetti who brings a bit of flair and a magical touch on board.

Design Notes

I always knew there would be at least one human on the crew, so Hiroko will not only be the newest form of magic user available in Starfinder but also out token human member.  Technomancers are the “mages” of the Starfinder setting. generally, this means the utility and attack spells with a lot of interesting flair and a flavor of blending some of the science and magic. As you have been able to tell by now, Starfinder does put a premium on INT as Hiroko will put a lot of weight in that and she will have CHA as important as well supporting her public thought leader work as an Icon theme. Starfinder provides quick start Ability Score options where instead of rolling for your Ability Scores, you can start with a preset list of rolls to assign as you wish.  If you recall from the overview, no Ability Score can start over 18, but we will get well past them later. With a spread of 18, 14, 11, 10,10, and 10, I am starting her with STR 10, DEX 10, CON 10, INT 18, WIS 11, and CHA 16. Hiroko Benandetti is a Human Icon Technomancer, so we will start by unpacking those choices.

Species – Human.  Humans are the most flexible of the species available for Starfinder and hold what can be called a “standard” set of bonuses with a +2 to an Ability Score if he player’s choice where we will go with CHA. Similarly, humans have an extra Feat and an extra skill per level. In game Humans are also the most uprooted culture as their homeworld of Golarion vanished during The Gap and the mystery of that missing homeworld could be what pushes some of the humans to explore and look outward.

Theme – Icon. Icons are an example of individuals who have made their name and show an ability to use the interconnected “social media” to make connections. This is a theme that provides great knowledge of the areas where you are gaining your icon status gaining a bonus in your profession. For Hiroko, we are looking at a Profession – Philosopher and gaining the Culture skill as a Class Skill.  Finally, Hiroko gets a +1 CHA for being an Icon.

Class – Technomancer. Technomancers are the magic users of Starfinder, but they are much more than that in the description.  Technomancers bridge science and technology, fusing them together. The scientific way of looking at the universe, as opposed to the more holistic way of the Mystics, is likened to “hacking the underlying structure of the universe.” The variety for Technomancers is mostly done through spell selection unlike the other classes so we will take some time on that momentarily. Hiroko begins with a Spell Cache, that for her takes the shape of a nanite infused arm bangle, which assists the Technomancers in accessing and storing spells, even allowing the Technomancer to channel one spell per day through the cache when out of spell slots.  

For spells, at the 0 Level choices, I am going to pick Detect Magic, Mending, and Daze while the First Level spells of Unseen Servant, Magic Missile, and Holographic Image make sense to me. I am going to be pushing the use of nanites as a theme and part of her philosophy background, so a large number of these are ones that seem to make use of nanite like manipulation and the creation of magical technological entities which she’ll do even more of later on.  

For starting Feats, Hiroko isn’t that great ina fight so I grab Barricade for her to be able to make light cover out of any junk just laying around, and noting to make sure I have the rank in Engineering to qualify for it.  I also choose Die Hard because it is just terribly useful for an adventuring philosopher like Hiriko to not die in an inopportune way.

Technomancers have a low number of base skills, 4+INT, with their magic providing a great deal of utility, but receiving bonus ranks from their primary requisite Intelligence.  Mechanics actually have limited skills selections with a 4 + INT modifier since they get so many other abilities and access to utility. The skills that I want to keep at or nearly maxed out are going to be Bluff, Computers, Engineering, Life Science, Mysticism, and Profession – Philosopher. To start off, I’ll also add a rank of Diplomacy and a rank in Perception.  The interaction skills seem to flow back to being an Icon and I can see Hiroko’s philosophical live streams being something that helps her hone her ability to convince or negotiate as needed.

Technomancers have an unsuprising Weapon Proficiency list of Light Armor, Basic Melee Weapons, and Small arms.  With saves and low BAB, we look to the Hit Points from Species and Class (9) and the Stamina Points from Class plus CON (5). Finally, Resolve Points start as half your level, rounded up plus your class chief ability score modifier, INT for Hiroko (5). Hiroko is an example of a Lawful Good character for sure.  She is someone who does live within structures, and while she challenges them it is in service of finding where they can be improved and similarly believes that the underlying nature of life is good. This is part of her professional identity and part of her Icon status as well.

Advancement

Technomancers have some of the simplest progressions in Starfinder.  They gain more spell slots and known spells along with the usual increases in skills and feats. They have a handful of other class abilities that show up and we will handle those with aplomb! Just as a reminder, check the link below for the character sheet since we won’t discuss all of the advancements.

First, on the Ability Score increases, I am going to continue to use one of them to increase a prime requisite on INT but also on CHA as Hiroko is growing much more into a leading light.  Finally, she has agreed to training a bit to improve her DEX and CON. The Mark II Upgrade that Hiroko has is a Manahive which is an implanted home for magically infused nanites that are keyed to her biological field providing a further INT bonus of +4.

With the INT upgrades, the retroactive skill ranks come into play so while Bluff, Computers, Engineering, Life Science, Mysticism, and Profession – Philosopher are all kept at full ranks, moderate ranks of Culture, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Medicine, Perception, Physical Science, Piloting, and Sleight of Hand are all added from experience and adventure. Hiroko’s fame has grown as an Icon and she can now call out for help from her followers and fans to find people wherever she goes within the Pact World.  

For Class abilities, aside from Spells, Hiroko has picked up two Magic Hacks – Fabricate Tech and Fabricate Weapon.  When you remember that she is focused on being able to create and create life out of the magical and technological interplay expending spell slots to whistle up some gear seemed appropriate. The Tech Lore ability provides an Insight bonus to Mysticism and Computers while the Cache Capacitor allows Hiroko to store Unseen Servant in the Spell Cache for use all day long.   Finally, all technomancers get Spell Focus at the appropriate level.

For general Feats, I continued to plucky not really a combat character theme with Combat Casting, Dive for Cover, and Extra Resolve.

Additional Spells fall into some of the same general descriptions like Second Level Caustic Conversion, INjecting Nanobots, and Microbot Assault or the Third Level Handy Junkbot and Healing Junkbot.  Creating and manipulating the potential for life out of magic and tech coming together falls easily into this system. Finally, a few utility spells like Detect Radiation, Grease, and Security Seal, while adding Arcing Surge to keep some combat ability around.  Check the character sheet below for more!

As with other d20 based systems, the Base Attack Bonus and Saving throws also increased.  Check out the character sheet linked below for the full write up. The gear and armour have also been upgraded to reflect the character advancement.  

Character Notes

Hiroko Benandetti was always thinking  She was born on Absalom Station with the same quizzical look she’ll give a new planet today.  Growing up on a bustling station full of different species and new ones arriving every day only left Hiroko more curious than she was before – she resolved to herself by the tender age of 5 to solve the mystery of why we all came together.  

Her parents gainful employment meant that she had the privilege to learn from the best of scholars on Absalom Station, and to begin quite early making a name for herself in her precis on what it meant to have a soul.  Oh certainly, having a soul was something that was easier to determine and define with all the magic out there but what it meant was something few 14 year olds wanted to explore. Her Technomancer training began quite rapidly, and brought fame to her family on the Station.  The Benandettis had provided one of the youngest Technomancer students the Station had ever seen!

Hiroko became something of a media darling as she began to formally posit her emerging theory of being.  Her beginning work, and admittedly work she expressly said to still be developing, was even transmitted off Station and across the Pact Worlds.  The idea that the magic of the soul was no longer confined solely (pardon the pun) to the same cycle previously identified intrigued people … and frightened some. As she would weave nanobots out of thin air with her magic, constructing them from the ether of the universe, she kept asking what differed these bots from the ones produced in the manufacturing facilities below and how does one gain the kind of draw an Android has.  

These are the datafiles that attracted attention, and it was then that her true adventures would begin.  A radical cell of Perceptionists from the Android Abolitionist Front stole her data files containing her notes and thoughts and where her theory was going.  They wanted it for themselves to support their view that there was no difference when you can’t perceive what does or does not have a soul from their external actions.  She called for help, and she did it how best she knew – by live streaming it. Valaeyo quickly saw the opportunity to take control of the situation and with Besu and Chitter began the hunt for the missing data chips.  Hiroko insisted on coming along, and not long afterwards when the chips were retrieved she found herself deep in conversation with Clausweld and Valaeyo. They would help her test these theories and develop them even more.   

Into the Diaspora to fight pirates, Hiroko’s lawful tendencies were reinforced and her philosophy reflected an underlying order she was seeking out and seeing deep into the connections of the Pact Worlds.  It seemed a bit odd to Clausweld, who wasn’t so sure that there was anything that resembled the greater plan or even greater structure in the universe despite the gods existence. Seeing how the pirates raided the Ulrikka ships, and seeing the Ulrikka workers also added to her humanity.  Dwarven miners and other species lumped in were doing as poorly or worse than the worse on Absalom Station. Maybe the Android Abolition Front has a point. Maybe we have glossed over what it should mean when a soul is enshrined among us?

While Stoli seems disruptive to others on the ship, Hiroko doesn’t mind him.  He hasn’t gotten in the way of her thoughts yet at least. The Trouble with Eox however does worry her.  The more she saw up close of what happened to the Undead in the Bone Sages’ service to more she became convinced that she was correct – souls were what mattered and we should honor them.  The Undead send a chill up her spine in ways she cannot describe as the flow of the soul, and what it should mean even as she weaves junkbots into being to do her cleaning cannot be overlooked.  

Her fame is growing, and her ideals are solidifying.  What Hiroko does next could well impact the Pact Worlds very thoughts on what it means to be alive.  

Hiriko Icon Human Technomancer

 

Starfinder & Troublemaker Beta Crew Overview

 

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Sheet by http://paizo.com/people/Gilfalas

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