Archaic Adventures

While many of the ancestries who visited the Pact Worlds after the Gap would've been unheard of on ancient Golarion, there is no shortage of opportunities to include your favorite aliens in the Lost Omens setting. From the galaxy-spanning elven aiudara gates to the spacefaring Azlanti Star Empire, having an ancient civilization return from other worlds with other species in tow is just one of the countless ways you can incorporate a species from beyond the stars in your Pathfinder adventures. There are also Starfinder-exclusive heritage options for existing Pathfinder ancestries, but whether using an ancestry or heritage, you should be aware of the nuanced mechanical differences between the two games.

Darkvision and other forms of special senses are much more common in Starfinder than Pathfinder. While some GMs might wish to incorporate items from Starfinder to make up the difference, you might want to adjust the Starfinder ancestries and ancestry feats that confer special forms of vision by lowering the range or raising the level of the feat that confers the special sense. You should also be wary of special movement speeds, such as climbing and flight, that become available at a much lower level in Starfinder. While some Pathfinder adventures might not mind the low-level access to these speeds, you might want to adjust by instead using the progression of movement speed–related ancestry feats presented to other ancestries in Pathfinder.

Most backgrounds from Starfinder Player Core work fine with minimal flavor adjustment in Pathfinder. Some offer feats that won't serve any purpose in your setting, such as the Augmented Body feat in a game with no augmentations. Others have contemporary narratives that make them inappropriate for high-fantasy games, such as electrician or hacker. Backgrounds like brutaris player, dream prophet, and icon might just need some minor thematic adjustments to fit your setting, while those like diplomat and smuggler should work fine with no adjustments.

While Starfinder classes are rules compatible with Pathfinder, you might make minor thematic or even mechanical adjustments depending on the themes of your specific campaign. All the classes could have minor adjustments to existing flavor, including the names of feats that reference technology, without mechanical impact on the abilities themselves.

Envoys are easy to use in a Pathfinder campaign with minimal adjustments. They make for great support characters without the use of magic and can help support a martial party with directives and bonuses whether they're using firearms or swords. You may run into unforeseen issues with stacking bonuses and penalties if there's a commander, bard, or similar support class in the party. The hotshot and infosphere director leadership styles require the use of vehicles and computers, which can be a bit complicated.

Mystics are easy to use in a Pathfinder campaign with minimal adjustments. This class is ideal for characters wanting to play spontaneous support casters, especially in a party with only one or two undead PCs, as the mystic can use their vitality network to heal them as well. Some campaigns might want to limit the telepathy of the mystic, especially survival horror and intrigue campaigns where this ability could cause disruptions. Review spells for more information about potentially conflicting mechanics, many of which might be conferred by mystic feats and features.

Operatives can be used in a Pathfinder campaign with some minor adjustments. These consistent damage dealers can utilize high mobility to fight at ideal distances with a multitude of ranged weapons. Which Pathfinder weapons qualify as a gun should be discussed with the player and depend on the operative's specialization. In an anachronistic adventure, consider allowing operatives to use Aim and other class features with all ranged weapons, even if they don't have the analog or tech trait. Operatives perform best with modern guns. Archaic firearms have a chance to misfire and take longer to reload, but they often have powerful traits like fatal to make up for it. The presence of an operative in a party might skew encounters in the direction of ranged combat, and GMs could consider giving their creatures enhancements for movement speed or ranged options if the party begins to exploit this preference of fighting at a distance. Many operatives also rely on being able to shoot multiple times before having to reload, and allowing them access to rare multi-magazine firearms using the statistics of those from Starfinder might be necessary for them to keep up with other damage dealers in the party.

Solarians are easy to use in a Pathfinder campaign with no adjustments. Channeling the power of the cosmos is a classic high-fantasy theme, and many players will enjoy being able to play a supernatural warrior who constructs their own weapons on the fly. You might consider adjusting specific movement abilities until these options would normally be available to spellcasters in your game. Channeling the cosmos and maintaining spiritual balance are timeless themes that can be freely explored using archaic characters without any major concerns.

Soldiers can present certain challenges in Pathfinder campaigns and might require some adjustments. Whether scavenged from an ancient alien ship, taken with you from the future, or ancient relics repurposed by an inventor, allowing your soldier access to area weapons addresses most of these concerns. Groups not looking to employ scrap launchers or alchemical flamethrowers might want to limit a soldier to using the Whirling Swipe feat as their source of area attacks. Soldiers with ranged area attacks in a Pathfinder game might be a little oppressive against melee-heavy creatures, and you might want to toggle the suppressed condition to only reduce the enemy's Speeds by 5 feet at earlier levels, perhaps increasing it to 10 feet when the soldier gets weapon specialization.

Witchwarpers are easy to use in a Pathfinder campaign with minimal adjustments. Many players enjoy being able to manipulate the battlefield while playing a high-mobility caster. The analyst anchor and precog need new paradox skills depending on the background of the individual character and the source of their power in your campaign. Check the spells section for more information about potentially conflicting mechanics, many of which might be conferred by witchwarper feats and features.

Most deities from Starfinder were still active prior to the Gap, although those who are too distant from Golarion to interfere directly might be ideal for time-traveling PCs for continuity's sake. Those with deities who undergo significant changes in the future might find themselves without access to their original deity, instead drawing powers from an unknown patron who might be using the PC for their own purposes. In some cases, even the patron deity might not understand why they're drawn to the mortal until everything is said and done.

Without access to advanced technology, many Starfinder classes have to rely on Pathfinder equivalents to properly function. In the Lost Omens setting, players might need to rely on technology from specific niche sources like alien technology from Numeria, relics from the Jistka Imperium, and experimental weapons forged in Alkenstar. Alchemical and magical solutions might also exist, but the item's traits would need some adjustment. Groups looking for a challenge might want to deny their players access to solar charging stations and might demand that players spend downtime to maintain or recharge their gear, or else incur the glitching condition on a critical failure. While many of Starfinder's items aren't easily integrated into most Pathfinder campaigns, there are opportunities to use this alien technology in your game without having to convert everything into a magic item equivalent, guidelines for which can be found in Anachronistic Gear.

Early on in a campaign, time-traveling characters might struggle to make ends meet, unless they happen to be antique coin collectors. The balance on a credstick is meaningless in a civilization without computers, but even the most mundane tech gear could be worth a king's ransom to collectors. A spare firearm, jet pack, or even datapad is likely worth many times more than what it would be in Starfinder, assuming you can find the right buyer. This kind of exchange can be especially helpful if a Starfinder character is being introduced to a Pathfinder campaign above 1st level, but the player wants the character to be completely out of their element. It can also serve as a fun narrative device when an eccentric noble finds their toy running low on battery power and demands a refund from the hapless time traveler!

Most of the skill and general feats from Starfinder can be used in Pathfinder without any adjustment. Feats that refer to specific technology that might not exist in your setting might not be appropriate for your campaign, including Augmented Body, and many of the Crafting and Computers skill feats. Feats that rely on comm units or the infosphere, such as Master Troll or Digital Ambassador, would be applicable only if a magic item were introduced with similar features specifically for that feat. Piloting skill feats would require using Driving Lore or adjusting the vehicle rules in your game and should only be accessible if you plan on making vehicles a major component of your campaign. Feats that deal with technology might still be appropriate for a Pathfinder campaign with some adjustments, especially those that heavily feature alien technology or constructs.

Most Pathfinder adventures won't include the Computers or Piloting skills, making options that rely on these skills superfluous on the surface. Options that grant training or boosts in these skills should instead use other related skills, such as Driving Lore, Sailing Lore, or Survival for Piloting and Crafting, Mathematics Lore, and Thievery for Computers. Allowing your characters to use Piloting to Drive any kind of vehicle might help simplify games that heavily feature vehicles, but be cautious about encouraging the Piloting skill if you don't plan on featuring vehicles in your campaign.

Spells that require the use of technology, such as motivating ringtone, might be challenging to use in a Pathfinder campaign if you don't also allow the associated technology itself. Magic items can help bridge the divide and work as replacements, such as a special wayfinder that can play music instead of a comm unit. Spells that refer to robots might refer to constructs instead if your campaign doesn't include robotic foes as part of its theme. Depending on your group's preference, your players might appreciate picking new names for spells that use contemporary or futuristic names. Alternatively, you could justify the names by claiming they're rough translations of spells developed on other worlds, such as by the elves of Castrovel or elementals on the Plane of Metal.

You should pay special attention to the inclusion of spells that grant special senses and movement speeds, such as polymorph spells, skyfire wings, and wild bond. You might want to adjust spells that grant these abilities to be a rank higher to account for the mobility assumptions of Pathfinder encounter design. Spells that modify gravity, radiation, and other Starfinder environmental effects might also be unwieldy in Pathfinder campaigns when other creatures and player characters don't have access to the same feats, gear, resistances, and spells that help them navigate and survive these environments. If you're playing a low-tech game, spells that engage virtual reality, such as new game, might instead function using illusions, dreams, interplanar travel, or mindscapes and will need adjustments, such as additional traits or requirements, to properly function

Starfinder player characters are assumed to have unfettered access to advanced technology. Many of the challenges in Pathfinder adventures assume your characters don't have access to this technology, and those abilities will either need to be adjusted, restricted, or the technology brought forward into your Pathfinder game. Make sure to inform your players in advance if you plan on setting firm limits on the use of the technology, such as batteries that need charging or the need to Craft your own ammunition. Maintaining tech gear is going to take a significant amount of time and effort, and the frustration of trying to make do with archaic equipment might be why the PC adventures in the first place. For more information on how Starfinder characters can use Pathfinder gear, see Anachronistic Gear.

Starfinder PCs who spend their leisure time playing vidgames and checking out local clubs might find it challenging to adapt to life in a preindustrial setting. Fortunately, there's so much a timeshifted character would need to do to adapt to life in the past that they might not have the time to think about it! Some players might love the opportunity to roleplay a stranger in a strange land, perhaps even wanting to spend some downtime learning local languages and customs. Cooking, crafting, healing, and shopping can all become substantially more time-consuming without the use of scientifically advanced technology, and the frustration of not having access to the magic that could emulate that technology can be a great motivator!

A Starfinder character might want to spend a significant portion of their downtime crafting. This can mean repairing and maintaining their futuristic gear, such as making ammunition and using archaic tools like waterwheels to recharge their batteries. It can also mean figuring out how to upgrade their gear without access to AbadarCorp's free online shipping and many convenient locations. Doing so could require finding an NPC who can do the actual checks behind the scenes while the PC is off on adventures, especially if the PC doesn't have ranks in Crafting. It could also mean working alongside another PC, perhaps allowing the Starfinder PC to help the NPC Craft by teaching them the basics of the advanced technology. You might even find yourself limiting a player's access to higher-level tech gear by forcing them to find necessary materials, from rare minerals to Numerian artifacts, that require specific adventures to acquire!

Characters from a time or world with more pervasive high-technology solutions to everyday problems might find it challenging to adapt to life in a more agrarian setting. Capturing that struggle with extraneous skill challenges could enhance the verisimilitude of your game, but over time, most characters should be able to adapt to how things are done in the pre-modern world. You should avoid trying to unduly punish players for wanting to play characters with themes, instead using the story to help explain how a PC failed or critically failed a check rather than giving them a numerical penalty to the check itself. For example, if a time-displaced Zemir rolled a 1 on his check to Influence a local celebrity with a Diplomacy check, the GM could explain that he confused the diva by asking for their social media contacts.

You should inform your characters in advance whether or not the Computers and Piloting skills are appropriate in your game. Pathfinder games that use a lot of vehicles might appreciate having a universal skill rather than having to rely on different Lore skills to Drive. Computers and other Lore skills that might be less applicable to a Pathfinder game should be adjusted on a one-for-one basis with some thought given to the nature of the adventure. Backgrounds are often a great source of inspiration for finding equivalent Lore skills. If you need some ideas, many published adventures have guides that include lists of useful skills as well as backgrounds that include Lore skills often used in those campaigns and campaigns set in the same region of Golarion.