Starfinder Classes: Operative | How to Play Starfinder | Taking20

[@Taking20]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------- GRAB YOUR STARFINDER DISCOUNTS HERE! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- miniaturemarket.com/starfinder Thank you Miniature Market for sponsoring Starfinder Week. Without your help I wouldn't have been able to make all of these videos. You guys and gals simply rock!

[@speedballfury]

Thanks for letting me know about the site! Nice discounts.

[@Tanglangfa]

This link is broken.

[@SuperSpartan3000]

Note to future self Cody, Operative has evasion, so when temple turret shoots at Luna and she succeeds her reflex save, she takes no damage, not half.

[@saltersa21]

Clearly a tremendous amount of work has gone into this intro series, and it's extremely helpful. Much appreciated.

[@warden-3699]

I’ve got a Daredevil Operative. I have lots of mobility exploits and feats, and tend to just run around the battlefield taking shots or melee attacks at the enemies. It’s also fun because I can outrun most vehicles that our enemies use, so I can participate in vehicle chases on foot.

[@hexadecimil]

But can your character outrun a vehicle without crashing through the suspension of disbelieve?

[@the_broke_spartan]

he do be sanic speed tho

[@56thvraksgrenadierregiment72]

Just saying, with the operative class, the fleet, indirect retreat, and jet dash feats, combined with the complete speed suspension cybernetic and dragon ultralight wings biotech augmentation, the extreme movement, improved quick movement, soft movement, spider climber, and versatile movement exploits, with the daredevil specialization for the operative class, by 15th level, that is a character that has a base climbing and swimming of 70 feet (running of 420), a base fly speed of 90 (running of 540), and a base walking speed of 120 (RUNNING OF 720 FEET) that can move at these speed in any direction, remain unfazed by normal penalties, and create a dust storm that they can walk on due to soft movement! They can even climb in any direction and can troll enemies by luring a chosen foe onto an unstable area where a daredevil operative is very effective and proceed to humiliate the chosen individual and their bloodline. BTW, there is no limit to how many times you can use these abilities. It’s just a limit of how much bs your GM can take in a single campaign. Have fun. Edit: I have waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much time on my hands.

[@greedkingcobalt200]

Hacker OPerative: I roll to hack the ship. GM: you succeed Hacker OPerative: by how much? GM: you have control Hacker OPerative: I turn off life support, open a few hatches, and turn all defense measures against the crew.

[@vincentchaffey5279]

What's the DC? What is your range to hack?

[@endlessxaura]

I think most GMs would probably rule each system as a separate hack, considering that any good ship architect would put each system being its own control module and firewall. Of course, this can be circumvented with root access, but you'd need to be on the ships brig anyway. But if you disguised yourself...hmmmmmmmmmm

[@LordKnightcon]

So a couple of things: 8:45 For starters, you casually mention a Dex of 18 for a mod of +4, and then use Bluff as your example skill, but Bluff is a Charisma-based skill. Also, in StarFinder the Skill Focus feat provides an insight bonus to the skill in question. The Operative's Edge class feature also provides an insight bonus to skill checks and so they do not stack. And since Level 7 is also when your Operative's Edge becomes a +3 to all skill checks, it's at that point that every operative is exactly as effective at all skills as every other operative. But even ignoring that, your math is a little bit off. At level 7, you can have at max 7 skill ranks, but you also get a +3 class bonus to any skill that is a class skill that you have ranks in. So assuming you took Daredevil and use Acrobatics for Trick Attack, when Taking 10 with Skill Mastery, you get a roll of 10 + 7 ranks + 3 class bonus + 4 Ability mod + 3 Operative's Edge for a total of 27 to the check, which only auto-succeeds with Trick Attack at CR 7 targets. If you get an additional +4 from your Operative Specialization, this goes up to a 31, enabling you to auto-succeed against up to CR 11 targets. However, since at this point you can continue to add a rank at each level, and Operative's Edge continues to increase, you eventually succeed against targets at up to your level + 3 by the time you hit level 19, even without the +4 bonus from a Specialization. Also regarding Trick Attack: I feel it's important to note a couple of things when considering damage per round. 1) Even if you didn't take a specialization that gives a +4 to Trick Attack skill checks, you have far worse odds of hitting with all the hits from a Full Attack than you do with your Trick Attack, and 2) While Weapon Specialization (which all classes get for free at level 3) applies the damage to each attack of a full attack, it only adds half your character level to the damage rolls of Trick Attack weapons (small arms and melee weapons with the Operative property). This means that the damage per round of your full attacks will not start to eclipse your trick attack damage until you get Triple Attack at level 8, unless you take proficiency with something that can't do Trick Attacks, like Longarms. It isn't until level 13 with Quad Attack that the damage from full attacks starts to significantly pull ahead. So until that point it's likely not even worth bothering with setting up for full attacks most of the time.

[@douglasbrosnan2081]

Only discovered your channel this morning, watched a tonne of your vids already.................. dude your channel is brilliant, really informative etc. I'll spread the word of how good you are :)

[@Taking20]

Wow... thank you so much Doug. #MuchAppreciated

[@glennguimond1323]

I picked up Starfinder at Gen Con and happened upon your channel while searching for others ideas/thoughts about the game. Your enthusiasm and obvious love for RPG's now has me hooked. Your videos look great and are really informative. You've gained a new subscriber.

[@Jorelsin]

Really awesome! Getting more and more hyped to try Starfinder!! Thank you so much for these videos!

[@Taking20]

Glad you are enjoying them! (You should totally tell you friends by the way) ;-)

[@Jorelsin]

Already have ;)

[@georgemikelis7991]

Nice video, just one thing I want to add. The bonus form operative's edge and from skill focus do not stuck (both insight bonus). That's why at level 7 Specialization Skill Mastery gives you the ability to take 10 in the skills in which you have skill focus, so your skill focuses feats (from operatives special abilities or from the normal feats at 1, 3, 5 levels etc) won't be obsolete.

[@1freethinkr388]

This is the go-to class IMO for rogues, assassins and other 'unsavory' types although there are PLENTY of other roles or themes that are very well covered with this cool class!

[@heathenpride7931]

1freethinkr Outlaw Envoy works if you want a more socially rogue than a deadly assassin kind of character

[@klobbson]

No doubt, really good class for making an Ace Pilot!

[@AnthonyTyger]

Cal'ander Lightman. Priest of Law and Truth. Plumekith Aasimar (Scion of Humanity, Truespeak), Operative (Detective). +12 Sense Motive at level 1. +16 vs Trick Attack. L/N Hellknight aspirant. "How DARE you lie to me!" Based off Cal Lightman from the TV show "Lie to Me".

[@jimdavis141]

Curious to see how they implement hacking in the APs. Will it be a simple skill check or an extended mini game.

[@Taking20]

Looks to just be a check. But they could add in a TON of countermeasures are really make it interesting.

[@double0bigby]

My first character is set to be a Vesk Operative: Ghost. making him mostly a melee build. the extra strength and con give him some longevity and the +1 to ac bonus whle wearing armor is super handy. The crushing damage that can be made with trick attack along with some feats, weapon focus, few extra damage feats and combat expertise can make him a truly brutal melee combatant. and the biggest kick is that the 3 and 4 attacks dont have any more increase in difficutly just the normal -4. I look forward to seeing what i can do with him......

[@ReadingDave]

Thanks miniature market.

[@Taking20]

I agree!

[@beastwarsFTW]

If your a Ysoki operative would that make you a rat? A Rat is British stealth unit used in WW2.

[@GMSubterranDan]

Can you do a brief description of the other specializations? Particularly interested in the detective

[@GoodOldGamer]

I'm thinking about multiclassing 3 levels of a hacker operative into a mechanic. 👍 The idea of trick attacking with Computers skill really amuses me for some reason. Extra movement at level 3 sounds nice too. I'm thinking an Android ace pilot was originally a covert spy for some corporation but as time went on he got so into piloting and fixing his vehicles that he naturally evolved from an op to mech, hence the multiclass, assuming the campaign starts at level 4 or higher. 😉

[@chenlee9835]

Operative (Hacker) - Background - Bounty Hunter; Race - Not Sure yet. Back Story - Was part of a Bounty Hunting Team. The team got wiped out, character only survivor. Character rescued by a member of the Starfinder Society. Character Name: 1 Redshirt... :D

[@Hanashibi]

I'm really sad you didn't talk about Explorer, my first Starfinder character's path. (Starting first game this Sunday.)

[@Liz-Istrata]

My first planed character was a human Operative. I'd go into ghost and give em the bounty hunter theme. The background story would make him out to be either a clone or like a result of a breeding thing by some big megacorp to produce like super assassins.

[@thomasscroggs3080]

I was going to create a skill monster by combining the "Jack of All Trades" exploit with the Spacefarer background. This gives you a roll on every skill in the game as if you were trained, with double your Operative's Edge and an untyped +2 bonus on any skills you don't have ranks in.

[@greedkingcobalt200]

my first character was a themeless human ghost operative, thanks to luck on the dice roll (and the +1 and +2 from themeless and human), i had a stupidly high dex and intelligence after all was said and done. He was a lot older than he appeared and was trying to find out about his own, personal history with the Gap. lived on Apostae and has/had a drow confidant. on a seperate note, Ghost brings up so much possible HAX with encounters or general fuckery.

[@DeltaCain13]

It kind of sucks that you can't do a trick attack with your sniper weapon.

[@w3653]

You can get it as an operative exploit. It's called Debilitating Sniper.

[@MrSeligas]

It does not, however, allow you to add the trick attack damage to the sniper shot.

[@infantrymanejb358]

I went drow spy operative but took the famous person thing as a bountyhunter ( TV personality) I'm focusing on pistols grabbed the operative exploit for an extra feat. Took multi weapon fighting and weapon focus giving me only a -2 for full round attacks (-1 if my melee buddy is next to it). Next exploit I take, when I attack something with trick attack it cant use an attack of OP against me as I move past it.

[@Nirrael]

Operative's edge and skill focus both grants an insight bonus, so they dont stuck. At 7th lvl benefit from skill focus changes from +3(+1 at this moment) to taking 10. Envoy has same mechanic. I realy like thrick attack, but it is... tricky. Yes, you don't have to outflank your enemy or catch him off guard. Unlike Sneak attack of Pathfinder's rogue. But you can't combine Trick attack with Full attack action, so Triple attack is not that great. The other problem is that Trick attack is a Full action, whitch allows you to move. It is not Move+ Standart, So RAW you cant tumble during TA. And this is a big issue, unless you have Improved Uncanny Mobility. Overall, Operative is pretty good, but since he stuck with knives and small arms, and limitations of trick attack, he is not as OP as it sounds.

[@Tanglangfa]

I’m having trouble deciding stats. Dex obviously, but then max Int what? Thief lets you Trick Attack with Sleight of Hand which Frees you from having to do Cha. As an Android, max Int seems like a wise choice. Right?

[@captaintalon4485]

When's the Solarion video going to come up? Really want to build a Vesk Solarion

[@Taking20]

Tomorrow. You can find a guide in the description to all of the releases.

[@PiAddiction]

More star finder please!

[@YourTrustyHonkey9716]

Dose the 8 hour cool down for phase shift seem like a to long of a wait, seems like if the ability runs off of resolve and a full action to use. Then you'd still have pick you times to use be just as careful to us the ability.

[@matthewanderson6769]

So hard finding a starfinder group in Brisbane Australia

[@milesmatheson1142]

Building a Ghost Op, like *both middle fingers to the air*

[@swindler1570]

Any possibility you could write a google doc style guide? (Like, with colour coding and such)

[@stephenezell993]

Would like to add a small remark about his math. A Level 7 operative gets a min 31 on a take 10, not 28. Here is the math, assuming a +4 stat. 10 (take ten) + 7 (skill ranks) + 3 (skill focus) + 3 (operatives edge) + 4 (bonus from speculation) + 4 (stat) = 31, so a lol 7 operative can always trick attack his CR level or CR level+4. This is why it takes a full action to do so with no way to reduce the action required. Its either trick attack or multiple attacks.

[@JuergenGDB]

true that... say anyone know where to get good miniatures that work for Starfinder.. they really have no selection still.

[@unitedsydney]

Skill focus and operatives edge dont stack they are both insight bonus. You choose one or the other. at the beginning skill focus is better but later on when operatives edge overtakes it you use that one instead.

[@thune4944]

How are there not more thumbs up?

[@barkboy1000]

Do you think an Operative/Technomancer would be a good combo?

[@goodsprotyousif6010]

Thanks for these vids. Really helping me foresee my players/NPC's abilities. That said, you mention take 10 on trick attacks. I'm pretty sure p133 says you can't take 10 in combat

[@TheFoxtailedSamurai]

Yousif Alshaker he is explicitly talking about a feature that says you can take 10 when you normally could not such as in combat. You are correct that you normally cannot but this feature would allow you to

[@goodsprotyousif6010]

Benjamin Boerner the issue is for me that the skill expertise ability states you can take 10 when distracted or stressed. Take 10 divides stress and distraction into a different sentence than the one saying no to combat. "Unless you have an ability that states otherwise, you cannot take 10 during a combat encounter. Also, you can’t take 10 when the GM rules that a situation is too hectic or that you are distracted, and taking 10 is almost never an option for a check that requires some sort of crucial effect as a key part of the adventure's story." Same wording, but under an "Also" proviso. Which to me says it's not possible in combat. Would you agree?

[@TheFoxtailedSamurai]

Yousif Alshaker You answered it yourself mate. "Unless you have an ability that states otherwise you cannot take 10 during an encounter." This ability explicitly states otherwise. The also part is a GM discretion thing and mentions things that would be too storyline important - like taking ten to convince a main villain to surrender or disarming a bomb while being shot at. Getting a confirmed trick attack is nowhere near that level of influence.

[@goodsprotyousif6010]

Benjamin Boerner the ability reads "When attempting a skill check with a skill in which you have the Skill Focus feat, you can take 10 even if stress or distractions would normally prevent you from doing so." That does not say combat. It specifically mentions only distraction and Stress, which are covered by a separate sentence in the Take 10 section. "Unless you have an ability that states otherwise, you cannot take 10 during a combat encounter. Also, you can’t take 10 when the GM rules that a situation is too hectic or that you are distracted" The ability only covers the second half of this, not the opening.

[@TheFoxtailedSamurai]

Yousif Alshaker you're way over reading it. Distractions and stress are why it doesn't normally work in combat - because combat is the stressful distraction. What he is suggesting basically is your operative becomes focused enough to reliably bluff / distract his opponent that it becomes second nature. This is really not even hard to believe from a in character perspective even and is the idea behind the focuses to begin with - you're used to doing the task while threatened or under pressure. I would definitely allow it in my games. He's a long time DM and that's also how he interpreted it. I believe most would. It isn't game breaking even in the least.

[@aedano]

So operative specialization gives you skill focus in both your in the associated skills. skill focus is an insight bonus. Operatives edge gives you +1 to all skills as an insight bonus, at 7th level the skill focus skills become obsolete as insight bonuses don't stack...sound right?

[@thomasscroggs3080]

At level 7 Operative's Edge does make Skill Focus obsolete. This is why Specialization Skill Mastery exists. The dev's have more or less confirmed that this bonus (the ability to take 10 on any skill you have skill focus in) is designed to essentially replace the bonus you get from Specialization. And remember this is all Skill Focus feats, not just the ones Specialization gives you.

[@ethos5]

The problem with Skill Focus/specialization is that it is an insight bonus, and thus does NOT stack with your operatives edge. Which means that you are blowing a feat specifically for this interaction, which while good, is a very real cost

[@PhoenixGuard]

Is it possible to have multiple specializations or am I going to have to homebrew Ghost Hacker?

[@thomasscroggs3080]

You limit is one Specialization per character. At no point do you gain another, and the option cannot be changed. Due note, however, that the Specialization Exploits are not exclusive. The one you chose to specialize in you get at level 5, the other you can take at level 10 when they open up to general use.

[@fussel5000]

Hey, are the videos on this Channel since the Starfinder announcement only choppy for me or does everybody have to suffer through a stroboscope lighting, staccatto talking Cody?

[@sechernbiw6943]

The two I've watched so far have been fine.

[@synopsisrewriten2849]

like most of your class videos you talk about likely good races for that class... I didn't see that in this one. I realize some of the obvious ones but just thought I would let you know

[@dylanhilton8431]

So if i choose ghost at level 1 do i get the cloaking field for free?

[@noneofyourbusinez]

I didn't hear alot of stealthy things with the operative. If I wanted to make a stealthy rouge who uses melee weapons...I guess this is the the one?

[@infantrymanejb358]

Shane Christopher yup this works as a rogue, check out some of the extra races, there's a skin change who can camofauge while standing still giving you a +10 to stealth.

[@tommyboymp]

I don't like that you can't apply trick attack to sniper weapons. Aren't they the epitome of stealth weaponry?

[@MrSylvandragon]

Thomas Gardner just add it in your own games, the rulebook is just a guide

[@thomashayes3783]

Trick attack strikes me as more of a "you are creating a specific opening to exploit a weakness in the target's armor/physiology/etc". As opposed to just smacking them in the back of the head, you're setting them up like a magician. i.e. "Watch THIS hand over here, pay no attention to what I'm doing with the other one." Just my interpretation. As Volgath stated, just a guideline, it's your game at the end of the day.

[@zack11189]

read the rulebook, one of the level 6 operative exploits is Debilitating Sniper, you can make trick attacks with snipers, you just dont get the extra damage, only the flat footed or off target

[@nolanbond474]

Question: How easy would this game be to update to 5th Edition D&D?

[@the_broke_spartan]

lol the firt character i made turned out to be a fricking spartan recon

[@dkamouflage]

Is it me, or is the video for this bugged out?

[@doomblackdragon]

Honestly I could see someone make a Han Solo and Chewbacca character rolled into one multiclassing Operative and Mechanic. So you could have the sly rogue type that good with machines.

[@Tonz_of_Fun]

I love my ghost operative. I just run in, stab the big bad guy then let my angry vesk friend beat things with his doshko.