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. This week, we are taking a look at Grik “Chitter” Krowlestic, the Ysoki Bounty Hunter Operative who acts as the Pilot for the Troublemaker Beta.
Design Notes
I knew I was going to make acute and spunky mouse creature somehow, and honestly the idea of the Pilot popped into my head. In all fairness, Guardians of the Galaxy has made the furry pilot a little bit of a thing lately. A little abrasive and a little friendly balancing those two concepts while also being a dedicated techie was something I thought would be fun to make. 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 16, 16, 11, 10,10, and 10, I am starting our leader character with STR 10, DEX 16, CON 11, INT 16, WIS 10, and CHA 10. Grik is a Ysoki Bounty Hunter Operative, so we will start by unpacking those choices.
Species – Ysoki. The fun, and rather cute looking, Ysoki were also high on my list. They provide a nice niche in populating the Pact Worlds and the standard player species with a nod to the Sci-Fi trope of the underclass race that is a scrounger. This means that for Ability Score modifiers, Grik takes the -2 STR but a +2 INT and +2 DEX. The additional benefits of being Ysoki are the sheek pouches where you can store 1 cubic foot of items, Darkvision, and bonuses to various flat footed and prone actions. Finally, all Ysoki receive a +2 racial bonus to Engineering, Stealth, and Survival checks.
Theme – Bounty Hunter. I envisioned this scittering and busy hustling Ysoki as someone who would find someone or something for a price and make themselves an invaluable part of the local economy as a go-between. The Bounty Hunter theme fit perfectly. If Chitter has a specific “mark”, all checks to recall information about that mark are reduced. Also, survival is a class skill for all Bounty Hunter Themed characters. Finally, a Bounty Hunter Theme provides a +1 CON
Class – Operative. The Operative may be my favorite class. It is a version of the old Rogue or Thief class but broadened significantly as you may recall from the version of it we saw in the Babylon 5 Card Catalog Series with Mia Correy as an “Agent”[LINK]. The Operative is the most skill heavy class and definitely more “finesse” based. Operatives receive an Insight bonus to all skill checks and initiative called “Operatives Edge” that increases in levels and also pick a specialization, like a subclass, for their type of Operative with Grik going for Hacker to round out the technical needs of the Troublemaker Crew.
As a Hacker Operative, Grik gets a free rank of Computers and Engineering at each level as well as the Skill Focus Feat for each of those skills. That is one way the Specialization sets itself apart providing both Skills and Feats before the additional special abilities and Exploits. Operatives have the Trick Attack ability to increase their damage, and each type of Operative can set a foe up for it with different abilities as well. At first level, I am starting Grik off with Mobility to make sure that she can later do the running around and popping of shots even if she isn’t sniping. Oh, Operatives have Weapon Proficiency in Sniper Rifles. If you’ve followed along with my love of Archers, you know I perked up at that point. Additionally, they have the Trick attack bonus damage that comes into play! It starts as an additional 1D4 damage, but goes up from there!
After we get the Computers and Engineering Skills, I am going to spread out the long list with Acrobatics, Athletics, Bluff, Culture, Diplomacy, Perception, Piloting, Profession (Bounty Hunter), Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, and Survival. This is a broad range and Skills and the Operatives Edge gives them all a bonus!
Hit Points are a set amount based on your species and class (10), while Stamina points are a set amount from your class plus your CON modifier(4). Finally, Resolve Points start as half your level, rounded up plus your class chief ability score modifier, WIS for Vaelayo(4). Finally, thinking about Vaelayo and his desire to for power, even if it is just soft power, a Lawful Neutral Alignment seems good. He certainly respects traditions and structures, but has no inclination to use them for the general betterment of the Pact Worlds.
Advancement
Taking these Starfinder characters out to 7th level really let’s the Operative shine! Just as a reminder, check the link below for the character sheet since we won’t discuss all of the advancements.
First, I’m a big fan of plugging the weaknesses of characters so the initial Ability Score improvements at level 5 took STR to 10 to remove the penalty and CON to 14 for extra hit points. INT and DEX are both taken to 19 to push the specialties out even further. Finally, for personal upgrade, I gave Chitter a Mk. II DEX Upgrade – Wired Reflexes! Why keep your original nervous system when we can make it faster and better with the wonders of tech bringin Chitter’s DEXT to 23(!!)! .
On skills, since Computers and Engineering will keep pace thanks to Operative abilities, I’ll peel a rank each off of Athletics, Bluff, and Diplomacy to put a handful of ranks in Medicine because somebody has to heal the healer is Vaelayo ever goes down. When you factor in the Operative’s Edge bonus of +3 at 7th Level, Chitter is throwing +17 or better in all of her core competencies which are legion.
For augmentations, I switched over to the technological options for Chitter. I started with a High Density Datajack to let her plug directly into a computer and gain a circumstance bonus. Next, I wanted to give her a prosthetic arm and hid a tactical knife in it with an extra modifications to breath underwater and enhance her hearing even more. I kept the magic limited with only a Glove of Storing, where a nice sized medkit can be kept without the Bulk, and a Trailblazer fusion on the Sniper Rifle. Because what sniper won’t want to ignore environmental modifiers to sniping shots. I also spent some credits on a highly customized and enhanced datapad with increased security and firewalls because I like the idea of Chitter madly typing away on this thing trying to outhack an enemy hacker.
I already mentioned how the Operative’s Edge has increased to a +3, which means that the bonus now equals the Skill Focus that Chitter has in Computers and Engineering. This is balanced by the Specialization Skill Mastery feature allowing her to take 10 on those skills even in stressful situations like combat! For Exploits, which are the special powers or tricks to round out the character, I looked at Elusive Hacker and Speed Hacker to make Chitter better at her professed Specialization but also Uncanny Pilot as the main pilot of the Troublemaker Beta.
For additional Feats,Evasion and Shot on the Run go hand in hand with the Operative powers like Quick Movement, Dive for Cover, and Uncanny Agility. Easy choices for this light on her feet and rather hyperactive character. Finally, the trick attack damage bonus is now an additional +4D8 and you can make the victims flat footed as a result!
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. Including jump jets on her armor.
Character Notes
Grik Krowlestic grew up in what is an almost sterotypical ysoki neighborhood! The half finished projects and tinkering across the whole block combined with the absolute plethora of young Ysoki rummaging around and making trouble was an invitation to disaster … or adventure! Periodic bouts of laughter and arguments broke out between the families as Grik would play and explore in the rusted remains of the space barges that once took Akiton’s precious ore to the stars.
Grik knew, as much as he loved his parents and siblings that he couldn’t stay. As much because his parents couldn’t afford to feed the whole family on the declining thasteron mining wages the Company offered. LIfe was dirty and dusty and hard, but Grik also knew it would be better for his family if he took his life on the road … and great thing about being a ysoki is that on Akiton, the traveling hover caravans are always glad to have another body! In the Hivemarket, Grik became known as chitter as she took it upon herself to explore every nook and cranny of the vast bazaar. She made a name for herself tinkering with the delicate electronics in ways even the Mechanics didn’t quite fathom but that made complete sense to her. The first time she was paid bringing back information on someone’s hideout, Chitter found her calling as a Bounty Hunter.
Being a Bounty Hunter on Akiton means you are bound to make enemies, and Chitter was no exception. A bad habit of throwing beer glasses across rooms, with the beer still in them, made even fewer friends than the organized smuggling rings she ran up against. Walking down a neon lit alley, wondering where the next attack would come from, Chitter saw a glorious and wonderful Kasathas rip a pipe from its moorings and proceed to absolutely school a pair of young punks. Even better than a hiding place, a friend with a strong arm, right?
Chitter made friends with Besu Pratili Vin Atrides of Clan Hadard, House Locklin, of the line of Zye, or “Besu” for short because she was also looking for something. She was finding herself and her traditions away from the Kasathas and the Idari, and Chitter thought now was as good a time as any to let the heat subside.
On the way to Absalom Station, a strange forward Lashunta approached them and get them deep into a running debate about culture and history all the way to Absalom Station. For whatever reason, that Lashunta volunteered them to help find a missing datacard and Chitter was about to tell him to take a long walk out a short airlock when the victim was Hiroko Benandetti. She may be a bit of an up and comer, but anybody getting published like that is worth knowing. For whatever reason, they stayed together even then Clausweld-7 and his drone just started coming along. If one friend with a strong arm is good, maybe another one with a drone mounted assault rifle is better?
It was a little bit of a flashback for Chitter working for Ulrikka Clanholdings. Mining is always dangerous, and the dwarves in charge of Ulrikka were no better as a corp than those in charge on Akiton. It was hard sometimes to help them maintain “profitability” because Chitter knew that meant some miners would lose their lives. The pirates made it a little easier since they didn’t even pretend to care for the miners, the company men and women, or anybody else in their way. Chitter is still not sure that is more annoying from that job – losing the Troublemaker or gaining Stoli Kilaim. Despite the similarity in size and demeanor, the dwarf and the ysoki don’t see eye to eye.
By now, Chitter had settled comfortably into a role as pilot, and sometimes jester, for the Troublemaker Beta. When the crew was up against renegade elves and crazed undead Bone Sage minions, it helped to have a laugh once in a while. Maybe Stoli wasn’t so bad, or maybe that is just his grenade launcher Chitter admires so, but she is starting to not mind the dwarf even as she is starting to wonder where Vaelayo has all their best interests at heart as they stare into the Vast.
Chitter Ysoki Bounty Hunter Operative
Starfinder & Troublemaker Beta Crew Overview
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Sheet by http://paizo.com/people/Gilfalas
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