Starfinder Roleplaying Game
Spells Weapons Armor Items Magic Items Poisons Creatures Feats Vehicles Starships Starship Frames Traps Rules Sources
Chapter: Tactical Rules
Browse the rules by chapter

103 rules

Name ▲ Page Description Chapter
Tactical Rules 236While many ordinary citizens of the Pact Worlds go their entire lives without seeing combat, adventurers and explorers often stumble into situations where a laser pistol or a chainsword is their best option, or they…Tactical Rules
How Combat Works 238Combat in Starfinder is cyclical. After initial steps that begin a battle, every character acts in turn through a regular cycle of rounds until the combat ends.Tactical Rules
Combat Basics 240This section presents the key terms and calculations needed to adjudicate the most basic elements of combat: attacking and defending.Tactical Rules
Armor Class (AC) 240Your Armor Class (AC) represents how hard it is for opponents to land a solid damaging blow on you. Your Armor Class (AC) is the minimum attack roll result that an opponent needs to hit you and deal damage.Tactical Rules
Saving Throws 241When you are subject to an unusual effect, such as those imposed by some special weapons and magical attacks, in most cases you can attempt a saving throw (often simply called a “save”) to avoid or reduce the effect.Tactical Rules
Other Rule Terms 242In addition to the basic combat mechanics and statistics detailed above, the following terms and rules are also frequently used in Starfinder, both in and out of combat.Tactical Rules
Actions in Combat 244The specific actions you can perform in combat are detailed in this section. For quick reference, specific combat actions are organized by their type in the Actions in Combat sidebar.Tactical Rules
Action Types 244An action’s type essentially tells you how long the action takes to perform within the framework of a 6-second combat round.Tactical Rules
Standard Actions 244A standard action is usually the main action you take each round, other than movement. Below are examples of standard actions.Tactical Rules
Attack 244Making a single attack is a standard action.Tactical Rules
Combat Maneuver 246As a standard action, you can attempt one of the following combat maneuvers.Tactical Rules
Activate an Item 244Many technological and magic items, such as a cybernetic hand, don’t need to be activated. Certain items, however, do need to be activated to have an effect.Tactical Rules
Cast a Spell 246The vast majority of spells require at least a standard action to cast, and sometimes more. Spells that take more than a round to cast require a full action each round until they are complete.Tactical Rules
Concentrate to Maintain a Spell 246Some spells require continued concentration to keep them going. Concentrating to maintain a spell is a standard action (see Duration on page 270 for more information about concentration).Tactical Rules
Covering Fire 246You can use your standard action to make a ranged attack that provides covering fire for an ally. Make a ranged attack roll against AC 15.Tactical Rules
Dismiss a Spell 246Dismissing an active spell is a standard action (see Duration on page 270 for more information about dismissible spells).Tactical Rules
Feint 247You can use your standard action to feint by attempting a Bluff check. The DC of this check is equal to either 10 + your opponent’s Sense Motive total skill bonus or 15 + 1-1/2 × the opponent’s CR, whichever is greater.Tactical Rules
Fight Defensively 247You can fight defensively when attacking as part of a standard action. If you do, you take a –4 penalty to attacks you make in that round but gain a +2 bonus to AC until the start of your next turn.Tactical Rules
Harrying Fire 247You can use your standard action to make a ranged attack that distracts a foe in your line of effect. Make an attack roll against AC 15.Tactical Rules
Total Defense 247You can defend yourself as a standard action. Starting at the beginning of this action, you get a +4 bonus to your Armor Class until the start of your next turn.Tactical Rules
Use a Special Ability 247There are three types of special abilities: extraordinary, spell-like, and supernatural.Tactical Rules
Move Actions 247Most move actions don’t require a check unless the circumstances are more difficult than normal. For instance, opening a door normally doesn’t require a check, but it does if the door is locked.Tactical Rules
Full Actions 248A full action requires your entire turn to complete. If you take a full action, you can’t take your usual standard, move, and swift actions. The following actions are full actions.Tactical Rules
Reactions 248A reaction is a special action you can take even if it’s not your turn, but only after a defined and concrete trigger. You can’t use a reaction before the first time you act in a combat.Tactical Rules
Other Actions 249The following actions are important but used less frequently.Tactical Rules
Injury and Death 250Your Hit Points (HP) measure how hard you are to kill. No matter how many Hit Points you lose, you aren’t hindered in any way until your Hit Points drop to 0.Tactical Rules
Taking Damage 250The most common way that your character gets hurt is to take damage and lose Stamina Points or Hit Points.Tactical Rules
Stabilizing 250There are several ways to stabilize a dying creature, including first aid, healing, and spending Resolve Points.Tactical Rules
Ability Damage, Ability Penalties, Ability Drain, and Negative Levels 252Some monster attacks or harmful effects might directly damage or drain one or more of a character’s ability scores, or they might impose negative levels.Tactical Rules
Combat Modifiers 253Several factors can influence combat or grant you modifiers to attack rolls or other statistics.Tactical Rules
Movement and Position 255It’s often very important to know where all the creatures involved in an encounter are, as well as what terrain and other objects are present.Tactical Rules
Reach and Threatened Squares 255Your reach is the distance at which you can attack foes in melee combat.Tactical Rules
Tactical Movement 256Tactical movement is used for round-by-round combat and is typically tracked using a battle map with a grid of 1-inch squares and miniatures representing all combatants.Tactical Rules
Overland Movement 258Characters covering long distances cross-country use overland movement. Overland movement is measured in miles per hour or miles per day.Tactical Rules
Additional Movement Types 258Some creatures have modes of movement other than walking and running, such as burrowing, climbing, flying, and swimming. Such creatures have a specific speed listed for each movement type.Tactical Rules
Senses 260Just as actions determine what you can do in combat and movement determines how you get there to do it, senses determine what you can perceive and how.Tactical Rules
Special Abilities 262A number of creatures and characters with a variety of classes gain the use of special abilities.Tactical Rules
Extraordinary, Spell-Like, and Supernatural Abilities 262Many abilities available to characters or monsters are classified as extraordinary, spell-like, or supernatural. Depending on which category they fall into, these abilities function as described below.Tactical Rules
Regaining Daily-Use Abilities and Spells 262Some abilities have a limited number of uses per day. To regain uses of these abilities, 24 hours must have passed since you last regained uses of your abilities, and you must have rested for 8 continuous hours during…Tactical Rules
Ability Descriptions 262Special abilities that are common in Starfinder are described below. The ability’s source typically indicates whether it is extraordinary, spell-like, or supernatural.Tactical Rules
Damage Reduction (DR) 263Some creatures have the ability to instantly heal damage from attacks or ignore blows altogether; this is referred to as the damage reduction special ability.Tactical Rules
Incorporeal 264An incorporeal creature doesn’t have a physical body. It is immune to all nonmagical kinetic attacks. All energy attacks and magical kinetic attacks deal half damage (50%) to it.Tactical Rules
Invisible 264An invisible creature is visually undetectable. A creature using only an imprecise sense, or whose only precise sense is vision, can’t observe an invisible creature, so the invisible creature is unseen by such a…Tactical Rules
Sense Through 264Sense through is the special ability to perceive things beyond an obstacle or barrier that would otherwise block normal senses.Tactical Rules
Spell Resistance (SR) 265Spell resistance (SR) is the ability to avoid being affected by spells and spell-like abilities, much like an Armor Class against magical attacks.Tactical Rules
Bonuses And Penalties 266Throughout the course of her adventures, a character often comes under the effects of conditions, circumstances, magic, technology, or other factors that provide her with bonuses or penalties to certain game statistics…Tactical Rules
Defining Effects 268Whether an effect is created by a class feature, spell, or piece of equipment, it usually has factors such as area, duration, and range that are defined using specific game terms, as well as descriptors that indicate…Tactical Rules
Area 268Some effects cover a defined area. Sometimes an effect’s description indicates a specially defined area, but usually an area falls into one of the categories discussed below.Tactical Rules
Descriptors 269A descriptor is a term that helps define an item, a spell, or another effect in some way.Tactical Rules
Duration 270An effect’s duration tells you how long the effect lasts. If a spell, ability, or item has a specific duration and creates one or more effects, those effects last for the duration unless the specific effect notes…Tactical Rules
Line of Effect 271If a weapon, spell, ability, or item requires an attack roll and has a range measured in feet, it normally requires that you (or whoever or whatever is using the ability) have a line of effect to the target to be…Tactical Rules
Range 271An effect’s range indicates how far from you it can reach. An effect’s range is the maximum distance from you that the effect can occur, as well as the maximum distance at which you can designate the effect’s point of…Tactical Rules
Target 272Some effects have a target or targets. You use these effects on creatures or objects, as defined by the effect itself.Tactical Rules
Abilities and Spell Effects on Large Vehicles 272Most vehicles interact with abilities and spells normally; the effects of an explosive blast on an exploration buggy can be determined using the typical rules, for example.Tactical Rules
Conditions 273Conditions are circumstances or states that can affect characters for an extended period of time. If more than one condition affects a character, apply them all. If effects can’t combine, apply the most severe effect.Tactical Rules
Condition Descriptions 273The following are common conditions in Starfinder.Tactical Rules
Asleep 273You are sleeping and helpless. While asleep, you take a –10 penalty to Perception checks to notice anything. If you succeed at a Perception check to notice something despite the penalty, you automatically awaken.Tactical Rules
Bleeding 273You take the listed amount of damage at the beginning of your turn each round until this condition ends.Tactical Rules
Blinded 273You cannot see. You are flat-footed and take a –4 penalty to most Strength- and Dexterity-based skill checks and to opposed Perception skill checks.Tactical Rules
Broken 273Items that have taken damage in excess of half their total Hit Points gain the broken condition, meaning they are less effective at their designated tasks.Tactical Rules
Burning 273You are on fire. As long as you have this condition, at the start of your turn each round before you take any actions (or attempt the Reflex saving throw described below), you take the listed amount of damage as fire…Tactical Rules
Confused 273You are mentally befuddled and can’t act normally. You can’t tell the difference between ally and foe, and thus you treat all creatures as enemies, even your closest friends and family, if applicable.Tactical Rules
Cowering 274You’re frozen with fear. You’re flat-footed and can take no actions.Tactical Rules
Dazed 275You are unable to act normally. You can take no actions but have no penalty to your AC. A dazed condition typically lasts 1 round.Tactical Rules
Dazzled 275You are unable to see well because of overstimulation of your eyes. You take a –1 penalty to attack rolls and sight-based Perception checks.Tactical Rules
Dead 275You are dead when you have 0 Hit Points, are not stable, and have no Resolve Points remaining but would lose RP due to dying or taking damage while dying.Tactical Rules
Deafened 275You can’t hear. You take a –4 penalty to initiative checks and opposed Perception checks, and you automatically fail Perception checks based on sound.Tactical Rules
Dying 275A dying creature is unconscious and near death. Creatures at 0 Hit Points that have not stabilized are dying.Tactical Rules
Encumbered 275All of your speeds are reduced by 10 feet, your maximum Dexterity bonus to your Armor Class is reduced to +2, and you take a –5 penalty to Strength- and Dexterity-based checks (or you take your armor’s armor check…Tactical Rules
Entangled 275You are ensnared. Being entangled impedes your movement but does not entirely prevent you from moving unless the bonds are anchored to an immobile object or tethered by an opposing force.Tactical Rules
Exhausted 276You move at half speed, you can’t run or charge, and you take a –3 penalty to your Armor Class, attack rolls, melee damage rolls, thrown weapon damage rolls, Reflex saving throws, initiative checks, and Strength- and…Tactical Rules
Fascinated 276You are entranced. While you have the fascinated condition, you stand or sit quietly, taking no actions other than to pay attention to the fascinating effect, for as long as the effect lasts.Tactical Rules
Fatigued 276You can neither run nor charge, and you take a –1 penalty to your Armor Class, attack rolls, melee damage rolls, Reflex saving throws, initiative checks, and Strength- and Dexterity-based skill and ability checks.Tactical Rules
Flat-Footed 276At the start of a combat, if you are surprised, you are flat-footed until you become aware of combat and have had a chance to act. Many other effects can cause you to become flat-footed.Tactical Rules
Frightened 276You flee from the source of your fear as best you can. If you are unable to flee, you can instead fight. You take a –2 penalty to ability checks, attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks.Tactical Rules
Grappled 276You are restrained by a creature, effect, or trap. You can’t move, and you take a –2 penalty to your Armor Class, attack rolls, Reflex saving throws, initiative checks, and Dexterity-based skill and ability checks…Tactical Rules
Helpless 276You are bound, sleeping, unconscious, or otherwise completely at an opponent’s mercy.Tactical Rules
Nauseated 276You are experiencing stomach distress. You can’t attack, cast spells, concentrate on spells, or do anything else requiring attention. The only action you can take is a single move action per turn.Tactical Rules
Off-Kilter 276You are disoriented and floating in zero gravity. You can’t take move actions to move your speed, crawl, or take a guarded step. You are flat-footed and take a –2 penalty to attack rolls.Tactical Rules
Off-Target 276Your battle concentration is thrown off. You take a –2 penalty to attack rolls while off-target.Tactical Rules
Overburdened 276All of your speeds are reduced to 5 feet, your maximum Dexterity bonus to your Armor Class is reduced to +0, and you take a –5 penalty to Strength- and Dexterity-based checks (or your armor’s armor check penalty…Tactical Rules
Panicked 276You drop everything you are holding and flee at top speed along a random path away from the source of your fear, as well as from any other dangers you encounter. You can’t take any other actions.Tactical Rules
Paralyzed 276You are almost entirely frozen in place and unable to move your body except to squirm slightly, move your eyes, and so on. You aren’t helpless, though you are treated as having a Dexterity modifier of –5.Tactical Rules
Pinned 277You are tightly bound and can take few actions. While you are pinned, you can’t move and are flat-footed.Tactical Rules
Prone 277You are lying on the ground. You take a –4 penalty to melee attack rolls. You gain a +4 bonus to your Armor Class against ranged attacks, but you take a –4 penalty to your Armor Class against melee attacks.Tactical Rules
Shaken 277You take a –2 penalty to attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks while you have the shaken condition.Tactical Rules
Sickened 277You take a –2 penalty to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks.Tactical Rules
Stable 277If you were dying but spent Resolve Points to stabilize (see Using Resolve Points beginning on page 250 in Injury and Death), or if you received healing from an ally, you are stable.Tactical Rules
Staggered 277You can take a single move action or standard action each round, but not both, nor can you take full actions. You can still take swift actions, but not reactions.Tactical Rules
Stunned 277You drop everything you are holding, you can’t take actions, and you are flat-footed.Tactical Rules
Unconscious 277You are knocked out and helpless. Unconsciousness can result from having 0 Hit Points.Tactical Rules
Vehicle Tactical Rules 278When you’re in a vehicle fleeing from enemies who are on foot, or you’re on foot yourselves trying to stop a vehicle, movement and combat are represented on a grid, such as a battle map.Tactical Rules
Piloting a Vehicle 278When you’re piloting a vehicle during a combat on a grid, the vehicle moves on your initiative count and you have to spend your actions to pilot it.Tactical Rules
Uncontrolled Vehicles 280If you are knocked out or cease actively piloting, your vehicle becomes uncontrolled. If you delay your action, the vehicle becomes uncontrolled and continues to act on the same initiative count as it did before.Tactical Rules
Attacking From a Vehicle 281Anyone attacking while on a vehicle takes that vehicle’s penalty to attack rolls, as listed in the Modifiers entry of the vehicle’s statistics (see page 228).Tactical Rules
Vehicle Chases 282The tactical vehicle rules in the previous section are meant for battles on a grid, with some creatures in vehicles and others on foot.Tactical Rules
Phases of a Vehicle Chase 282Chases happen in rounds with three phases, which are described in more detail below.Tactical Rules
Pilot Actions 282During the pilot actions phase, the pilot of each vehicle selects any pilot actions she wants to use to drive her vehicle this round, and performs her piloting actions in initiative order during this phase.Tactical Rules
Chase Progress 283In the chase progress phase, the GM advances vehicles (based on their pilots’ chosen actions and whether they succeeded at the required checks), then determines whether any participants have escaped or been left behind…Tactical Rules
Combat 284The final phase of each round is combat. This happens in initiative order, and characters can take the usual actions they can in combat, with the following adjustments.Tactical Rules