Hey everyone! Anthony’s off in Madrid, Spain this weekend with his wife (lucky devils they are), so I rushed home after work to fill his blog spot with something, ANYTHING to keep you wonderful fans happy. So, what did I pick? Well, instead of going behind the screens, I figured I would go behind the CLASSES of the new Starfinder Roleplaying Game and share a build with you all that I like. That’s right, while the GM’s away, the Iconic Designs will play! Let’s do it!

Build Concept

Any information important to understanding the build or its roots goes here.

• Classes: operative 12
• Feats: Mobility (1st), Weapon Specialization (3rd; Bonus), Weapon Focus: small arms (3rd), Fleet (5th), Shot on the Run (6th; Bonus), Jet Dash (7th), Sidestep (9th), Improved Sidestep (11th)
• Abilities: debilitating trick, evasion, operative’s edge +3, quick movement +20 ft.), specialization, specialization power (terrain attack), specialization skill mastery, trick attack +6d8, triple attack, uncanny agility
• Specialization: daredevil
• Operative Exploits: alien archive (2nd), uncanny mobility (4th), versatile movement (5th; specialization), combat trick: Spring Attack (6th), uncanny shooter (8th), improved uncanny mobility (10th), improved evasion (12th)

Play Summary

The basic idea for this build is that you are an unquestionable god of mobility. One of my favorite aspects of trick attack is that it gives you a movement boost while you’re using it, and this build is designed to capitalize on your bonus movement. Here’s a brief rundown.

• The Fleet feat and the operative’s quick movement class feature stack, so by 12th level you have a +30 bonus to your movement speed, for a total of 60 feet of movement per action.
• Sidestep allows you to make a quick 5 feet of movement when someone attacks you and misses, allowing you, say, move out of a flank you don’t want to be in.
• Jet Dash allows you to run at six times your move speed—by 12th level, you can run at 360 feet per round, which is pretty amazing.
• Shot on the Run works like it does in PF, but it is WAY easier to qualify for; only one feat. You can also combine Shot on the Run with a trick attack (the feat’s text says so), and with the uncanny shooter exploit reloading a small arms weapon doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity. You also have an extra +1 on attack rolls because of your Weapon Focus feat. (This’ll improve to +2 at 9th level, when your BAB drops to be 3 less then your character level.)
• Uncanny Agility is amazing—when you trick attack, your movement doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity from the target of your trick attack. This becomes less important when you get Shot on the Run at 6th level, but then at 10th level you get Improved Uncanny Agility, which makes it so you don’t provoke attacks of opportunity from anyone while moving via trick attack.
• Alien archive is, in my opinion, a must-have talent for people who plan on trick attacking often. It’s a bonus on skill checks to identify creatures that appears to stack with most others—I haven’t found any other abilities that add enhancement bonuses to skills yet, and the DC to pull off trick attacks is not easy, even for an operative.

This is actually my current build for my SFS ysoki operative, Yenzie Redhollow. I hope you’ve enjoyed it in Anthony’s absence, and look forward to another new Iconic Design next Monday as my special way of saying, “I’m sorry for making you sit through three weeks of philosophical musings about Starfinder.” Take care!

Alexander “Alex” Augunas has been playing roleplaying games since 2007, which isn’t nearly as long as 90% of his colleagues. Alexander is an active freelancer for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and is best known as the author of the Pact Magic Unbound series by Radiance House. Alex is the owner of Everyman Gaming, LLC and is often stylized as the Everyman Gamer in honor of Guidance’s original home. Alex also cohosts the Private Sanctuary Podcast, along with fellow blogger Anthony Li, and you can follow their exploits on Facebook in the 3.5 Private Sanctuary Group, or on Alex’s Twitter, @AlJAug.