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Scaling Equipment

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 140
Whether your primary weapon is a hand-me-down you received from your great-great-grandmother or you crafted your armor from the corpse of an apex predator that once terrified your hometown, you might want your gear to have a story and to stick with you throughout your adventuring career. This section presents options to do just that!

Previously, the Starfinder RPG hasn’t provided a way to upgrade a character’s equipment beyond adding and swapping out weapon fusions or weapon accessories. In practice, this encourages PCs to periodically loot their next weapon during an adventure, use it for a level or two, and then toss it into their null-space chamber as a back-up weapon for later resale. This is great for encouraging players to enjoy a wide variety of items and illustrating how rarer, pricier technologies grant an edge. It’s less optimal for players who crave continuity—either because they have class abilities that rely on using certain weapon types (like many soldier gear boosts) or because using a specific weapon over the course of their character’s career has narrative value. If your operative is determined to use her ancestor’s longsword, how can that sword remain relevant over time?

This section presents not just rules for creating your own custom weapons and armor, but also for upgrading them over time.

Overview

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 140
Creating new gear involves imagination and a little math. You can approach your designs from either direction. If you want, you can start with an idea (like a magitech sniper rifle that transforms its bullets into razor-sharp beetles which burrow into their target) and choose options that support that concept. You can also just choose abilities you like and use those to inform the item’s appearance and flavor. Here are a few key terms and considerations.
Item Level: An item’s level determines its basic statistics, such as the armor bonus it provides or the amount of damage it deals. Additional choices you make can modify these values. A scaling item’s level shouldn’t exceed your level (unlike purchased or found items, which might exceed your level).
Build Points and Perks: Over time, an item gains a small number of Build Points (BP) that you can use to purchase special abilities called perks. A perk might adjust the item’s basic statistics or grant a special function. Most perks cost 1 BP, though some cost 2 or more. A few perks have a different BP cost for certain item types.
Flaws: Sometimes an item is imperfect or is designed to be less effective in one way to make room for some other feature. When creating an item, you have the option to select a flaw. If you do so, the item gains one additional BP.
Price and Upgrade Cost: A scaling item’s level determines its price when purchased, as shown in the Scaling Gear Costs table. To upgrade to a higher-level version of the item, you must expend resources (usually UPBs or appropriate materials) equal to the upgrade cost of the item’s new level. If you increase an item’s level by more than 1, you must pay the upgrade cost for each level gained. For example, scaling a level 7 sword to level 10 would require paying the level 8, level 9, and level 10 scaling costs (14,750 credits total). The Upgrading Gear section (page 146) further details changes you can make to your equipment and how your character can do the work themselves to potentially defray the cost or time taken.

Scaling Gear Cost

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 140

ITEM LEVEL	PRICE	UPGRADE COST
1	250	—
2	750	625
3	1,350	750
4	2,000	800
5	2,950	1,200
6	4,200	1,550
7	6,200	2,500
8	9,200	3,750
9	13,000	4,750
10	18,000	6,250
11	25,000	8,750
12	35,000	12,500
13	49,000	17,500
14	70,000	26,500
15	107,000	46,000
16	162,000	69,000
17	243,000	101,000
18	362,000	150,000
19	540,000	222,000
20	810,000	336,000

Optional Price Adjustment

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 143
You might have noticed that weapons and armor of the same level in the Core Rulebook can vary in price. To keep the item creation process simpler, the Scaling Gear Costs table on page 140 provides just one price per item level. However, with your GM’s permission, you can either reduce the table’s prices and upgrade costs by 10% or increase them by 10%. If you reduced the costs, reduce the number of Build Points the item receives by 1. If you increase the costs, increase the item’s number of Build Points by 1.

Scaling Armor

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 140
There’s no shortage of armor types at every level, but if you want an outfit that’s tailor-made to your needs, scaling armor lets you build what you want, keep upgrading it, and maintain consistent fashion sense over your character’s adventuring career.

Create a Concept

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 140
In brief, what is your armor, and what does it look like? Are you creating deceptively defensive street clothes that can deflect lasers? Is this an intimidating suit of heavy armor covered in spikes? Is this heavy-duty protective gear used to explore volcanoes (but can deflect a knife if needed)? Whatever your idea, a succinct concept can inform which features you choose for your armor.

Choose an Armor Type

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 141
For this system, you can choose between light armor or heavy armor. Your armor’s type and item level determine its base statistics for EAC bonus, KAC bonus, maximum Dexterity bonus, armor check penalty, number of upgrade slots, and perks. Determine your armor’s base statistics for its type and item level by referencing the appropriate armor progression table below. Some perks and flaws modify these statistics further.
Bulk: Light armor has a starting bulk of light bulk. Heavy armor has a starting bulk of 2. Some perks and flaws modify these values but can’t reduce the bulk below light bulk.

Armor Flaws and Perks

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 141
The best part of designing your own armor is customizing it! Perks grant special bonuses, helping you specialize your armor. Optionally, you can add flaws that inhibit some part of the armor’s performance but grant you additional perks.
Flaw (Optional): Your custom armor might perfectly fulfill some of your needs at the cost of another. When creating or upgrading your armor, you can choose for it to have one flaw (or change its existing flaw). A flaw provides some penalty, but in return, you gain an additional Build Point you can use to buy perks.
BP Cost for Perks: Except where noted, armor perks each cost 1 Build Point to acquire. Exceptions list the cost in BP alongside the perk’s name.
Design Perks: Some perks are marked as design perks, which provide numerous changes to the armor’s statistics that represent a major adjustment to how the armor is built. Your armor can only have one design perk.
Duplicate Perks: Except where noted, you can’t purchase and apply multiple copies of the same perk to a suit of armor. For perks marked with an asterisk (*), you can purchase and apply the perk a second time, but the second perk’s BP increases by 1. For example, you could purchase the responsive perk twice for 3 BP (1 BP for the first, and then 2 BP for the second perk).

Armor Flaws (Optional)

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 142
You can select a flaw from the following list.
Flimsy: Reduce either the armor’s EAC bonus or its KAC bonus by 1. You can’t select this flaw if it would reduce the bonus below +0.
Minimalist: Reduce the armor’s number of upgrade slots by 50%, rounding the number of slots down.
Rigid: Increase the armor’s armor check penalty by 1, and reduce the armor’s maximum Dexterity bonus by 1 (minimum +0). You can’t choose this flaw if the armor’s maximum Dexterity bonus is already +0.
Vulnerable: Choose acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic damage. The chosen energy type triggers catastrophic side effects for your armor, such as your armor being especially flammable, conducting electricity painfully well, or amplifying sound waves. When you take damage from the chosen energy type, you increase the damage taken by an amount equal to half the armor’s item level (rounded up).

Armor Perks

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 142
You can select perks from the following list.
Adaptive Fashion: Choose three 1st-level clothing personal items (such as those presented on page 230 of the Core Rulebook). As a full action, you can adjust your armor to provide yourself the benefits of one of these sets of clothing. This effect lasts until you use a full action to instead gain the benefits of one of the other chosen sets of clothing. This adjustment doesn’t hide the fact that you’re wearing armor, but it might alter the armor’s cosmetics.
Ample Upgrades*: Increase the armor’s number of upgrade slots by 1.
Antiradiation Weave: When you fail a saving throw against initial exposure to radiation while wearing this armor, you can spend 1 Resolve Point to reroll the saving throw without the armor’s circumstance bonus to saving throws and use the higher result.
Deflective (design): Increase the armor’s EAC bonus by 1. This can’t cause the armor’s EAC bonus to exceed its KAC bonus.
Environmental Endurance: The armor’s larger internal batteries double the amount of time you can operate the armor’s environmental protections to 2 days per item level.
Flexible*: Reduce the armor’s armor check penalty by 1 (minimum 0).
Heavy Duty (design): Increase the armor’s EAC bonus by 1, increase its KAC bonus by 1, and increase its armor check penalty by 1.
Massive (design): Increase the armor’s EAC bonus by 2, increase its KAC bonus by 2, increase its armor check penalty by 1, decrease its maximum Dexterity bonus by 1, and increase its speed adjustment penalty by 5 feet (e.g., a speed adjustment of –5 feet becomes –10 feet). This perk can’t be applied to light armor.
Reinforced (design): Increase the armor’s KAC bonus by 1.Resistant: Choose acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic damage. The armor dissipates this form of energy especially well, granting you resistance to that energy type equal to the armor’s item level divided by 3 (rounded up).
Responsive*: Increase the armor’s maximum Dexterity bonus by 1.

Light Armor Progression

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 141

ARMOR LEVEL	EAC	KAC	MAXIMUM DEX BONUS	ARMOR CHECK PENALTY	SPEED ADJUSTMENT	UPGRADE SLOTS	BUILD POINTS
1	+0	+2	+4	—	—	0	0
2	+1	+3	+4	—	—	0	0
3	+2	+4	+4	—	—	0	0
4	+3	+5	+4	—	—	0	0
5	+4	+6	+4	—	—	1	0
6	+6	+7	+4	—	—	1	0
7	+7	+8	+5	—	—	1	0
8	+8	+9	+5	—	—	1	1
9	+9	+10	+5	—	—	1	1
10	+10	+12	+5	—	—	2	1
11	+11	+13	+5	—	—	2	1
12	+12	+14	+6	—	—	2	1
13	+13	+15	+6	—	—	2	2
14	+14	+16	+6	—	—	2	2
15	+15	+17	+6	—	—	3	2
16	+16	+18	+6	—	—	3	2
17	+17	+19	+6	—	—	3	2
18	+18	+20	+7	—	—	3	3
19	+19	+21	+7	—	—	3	3
20	+20	+22	+7	—	—	4	3

Heavy Armor Progression

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 141

ARMOR LEVEL	EAC	KAC	MAXIMUM DEX BONUS	ARMOR CHECK PENALTY	SPEED ADJUSTMENT	UPGRADE SLOTS	BUILD POINTS
1	+2	+3	+1	–2	–5 ft.	1	0
2	+3	+4	+1	–2	–5 ft.	1	0
3	+4	+6	+1	–2	–5 ft.	1	0
4	+5	+7	+1	–2	–5 ft.	1	0
5	+7	+8	+1	–2	–5 ft.	2	0
6	+8	+9	+1	–2	–5 ft.	2	0
7	+9	+10	+2	–2	–5 ft.	2	0
8	+10	+12	+2	–2	–5 ft.	2	1
9	+12	+13	+2	–2	–5 ft.	2	1
10	+13	+15	+2	–2	–5 ft.	3	1
11	+14	+16	+2	–2	–5 ft.	3	1
12	+15	+17	+3	–2	–5 ft.	3	1
13	+16	+18	+3	–2	–5 ft.	3	2
14	+17	+20	+3	–2	–5 ft.	3	2
15	+19	+21	+3	–2	–5 ft.	4	2
16	+20	+22	+3	–2	–5 ft.	4	2
17	+21	+23	+4	–2	–5 ft.	4	2
18	+22	+24	+4	–2	–5 ft.	4	3
19	+23	+25	+4	–2	–5 ft.	4	3
20	+24	+26	+4	–2	–5 ft.	5	3

Scaling Weapons

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 143
Starfinder presents a vast array of weapons. While there’s no shortage of armaments at any level, if your character wants to keep using the same type of weapon (like a laser pistol or flame doshko), the next-best model might not be accessible and affordable for at least three levels. With scaling weapons, you can create and upgrade your favorite for each level of play. Designing a new weapon involves several steps, many of which affects the item’s statistics. You can examine these steps in any order, and unless otherwise noted, the effects are cumulative.
Weapon Damage Dice: Some effects increase or decrease the size of the damage dice used, which use the following progression, from smallest to largest: 1d3*, 1d4, 1d6, 1d8, 1d10, and 1d12. You can’t apply a modification if it would decrease the damage die’s final size below 1d3 or above 1d12.
*To roll a d3, you can roll a d6 and divide the result by 2, rounding up (e.g., a roll of 5 is a result of 3).

Create a Concept

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 143
What is your weapon? Often, it can prove helpful to create a short description of the weapon’s appearance or concept in 25 words or less, as doing so can guide your design and help you convey your fun ideas to others.

Choose a Weapon Category

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 143
Each weapon belongs to a category based on how it inflicts harm; choose one and choose the damage type (or the combination of damage types) available in that category. The category and damage type(s) determine not just whether the weapon targets EAC or KAC (per page 169 of the Core Rulebook), but they might also affect other statistics and which perks can be applied to the weapon. If a weapon targets EAC, reduces its damage die size by one. If a weapon deals only energy damage, it uses a battery as ammunition (unless otherwise noted). If a weapon deals a combination of energy damage and kinetic damage, it might use a battery (such as a cryo weapon that freezes and flings icicles) or suitable physical ammunition (such as a shock weapon that fires electrified flechettes).
Choose one of the following weapon categories. Any melee weapon belonging to a category marked with an asterisk (*) gains the powered weapon ability.
Cryo*: The weapon deals cold damage, or it deals cold damage combined with bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage.
Disintegrator*: The weapon deals acid damage.
Flame*: The weapon deals fire damage, or it deals fire damage combined with bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage. Flame weapons often use petrol as ammunition.
Laser (ranged only): The weapon deals fire damage and increases its range increment by 50%.
Plasma*: The weapon deals a combination of electricity and fire damage.
Projectile (ranged only): The weapon deals bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage, or it deals a combination of acid and piercing damage.
Shock*: The weapon deals electricity damage, or it deals electricity damage combined with bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage.
Sonic*: The weapon deals sonic damage, or it deals sonic damage combined with bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage.
Uncategorized: The weapon doesn’t fit cleanly into one of the categories above. Typically, uncategorized weapons deal bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage, though they might use or combine other damage types at the GM’s discretion.

Choose a Weapon Type

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 144
A weapon’s type defines many of its key characteristics, such as the number of hands required to wield it, its bulk, and (for ranged weapons) its range increment. The type also sets the weapon’s starting damage die size, which other abilities might increase or decrease. Choose one of the weapon types—advanced melee, basic melee, heavy, longarm, small arm, or sniper—and note its base statistics found on the Weapon Base Statistics table, applying any die size changes.
Two-Handed Weapons: If you want an advanced or basic melee weapon that requires two hands to wield, increase the number of hands to 2, and increase the weapon’s damage die size by one step.
Sniper: A sniper weapon gains the sniper (250 feet) weapon ability. If it uses a battery, the weapon’s usage doubles. If it uses other ammunition, reduces its capacity by half.

Other Weapon Abilities

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 144
Whereas most weapon abilities require you spend a perk, a handful cost no perks because their advantages are counterbalanced by a different cost. You can add or remove these abilities when creating or upgrading a weapon.
Analog: The weapon gains the analog weapon special property. This is typically appropriate for weapons that don’t rely on advanced technological mechanisms and that deal only bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage.
Nonlethal: The weapon gains the nonlethal weapon special property.
Operative (one-handed melee only): The weapon gains the operative weapon ability, and its damage die size decreases by one step. An operative weapon can’t also have the unwieldy ability.
Unwieldy: The weapon gains the unwieldy weapon ability, and its damage die size increases by one step. It’s rare for one-handed weapons to have the unwieldy ability.

Capacity and Usage

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 144
All ranged weapons use ammunition, and melee weapons with the powered weapon ability require batteries to operate. These scaling weapons have a starting ammo capacity and usage values based on the type of ammunition used. These values sometimes increase at higher item levels, representing the weapon’s larger magazine or more intense energy needs. In addition, the weapon’s type, perks, and drawbacks can affect these values.
Batteries: The weapon has capacity 20 and usage 2, requiring a battery to operate. At 7th level, the capacity increases to 40, and the weapon requires a high-capacity battery. At 12th level, the capacity increases to 80, the usage increases to 4, and the weapon requires a super-capacity battery. At 17th level, the capacity increases to 100, and the weapon requires an ultra-capacity battery.
Mini-Rockets: The weapon has capacity 6 and usage 1. At 3rd-level and every 3 levels thereafter, the capacity increases by 1. These values are typically appropriate for flare and shell ammunition, too.
Petrol: The weapon has capacity 20 and usage 2. At 7th level, the capacity increases to 40.
Rounds: The weapon’s capacity is based on its weapon type: 2 for sniper weapons (already factoring in the reduced capacity applied to sniper weapons), 8 for small arms, 16 for longarms, and 32 for heavy weapons. At 7th level, you can increase the weapon’s capacity by 50%. The weapon’s usage is based on its weapon type, too: 4 for heavy weapons, and 1 for other weapon types. Other physical ammunition like darts and flechettes typically use these same values.

Weapon Flaws and Perks

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 145
It’s time to personalize your weapon, giving it special abilities! Weapon perks grant special bonuses and effects. Optionally, you can add flaws that inhibit some part of the weapon’s performance but grant you additional perks.
Flaw (Optional): A weapon perfect for some tasks might require sacrificing other features. When creating or upgrading your weapon, you can choose for it to have one flaw. A flaw provides some penalty, but in return, you gain an additional Build Point you can use to buy perks.
Perks: By spending Build Points, you can apply various perks to enhance your weapon. Except where noted, weapon perks each cost 1 Build Point to acquire. Exceptions list the cost in BP alongside the perk’s name. Except where noted, you can’t purchase and apply multiple copies of the same perk to a weapon.
Unwieldy: Several flaws and perks give a weapon the unwieldy special property, which often counterbalances especially potent abilities. You can apply only one flaw, perk, or other effect that adds the unwieldy ability to a weapon.

Weapon Flaws (Optional)

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 145
You can select flaws from the following list.
Ammo Hog: Double the weapon’s usage. This can only be applied to weapons that have capacity and usage values.
Archaic: The weapon gains the archaic weapon special property.
Cumbersome: Increase the weapon’s bulk by 1.
Low Capacity: Halve the weapon’s capacity. This can only be applied to weapons that have capacity and usage values, and it can’t be applied to weapons that use batteries as ammunition.
Needlessly Unwieldy: The weapon gains the unwieldy weapon special property; this doesn’t increase the weapon’s damage die size.

Weapon Perks

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 146
You can select weapon perks from the following list.
Automatic Fire (2 BP): The weapon gains the automatic weapon special property. If the weapon uses ammunition other than a battery, you increase the weapon’s capacity by 50%. This perk can only be applied to a ranged weapon.
Blast Strike: The weapon gains the blast and unwieldy special properties and its damage die size decreases by two steps (to a minimum of d3). Alternatively, you can halve the weapon’s range increment to give the weapon the blast special property, but not unwieldy. You can apply this perk only to ranged weapons.
Critical Effect (1+ BP): The weapon gains a critical hit effect from the following list: arc, bleed, corrode, deafen, injection +2, knockdown, staggered, or wound. You can increase this perk’s BP cost to 2 to instead give the weapon either the severe wound or stunned critical hit effect. For critical hit effects that deal additional damage, use the special damage value based on the weapon’s item level from the Scaling Weapon Progression table on page 144.
Destructive (2 BP): Increase the weapon’s damage die size by one step. This can’t be combined with other effects that affect the damage die size, and it can’t increase the die size above 1d12.
Eldritch: Treat the weapon’s item level as though it were 1 higher for the purpose of installing and transferring weapon fusions and fusion seals.
Exploding Strike (1+): The weapon gains the explode (5 ft.) and unwieldy special properties, and its usage increases by 100%. If the weapon’s item level is 6 or higher, you can increase this perk’s cost by 1 BP to increase the explode ability’s radius to 10 feet. You can apply this perk only to small arms, longarms, and heavy weapons. This perk costs 1 BP for a heavy weapon and costs 3 BP for a longarm or small arm. This reduces the damage die size by two steps.
Extended Range (1+ BP): Increase the weapon’s range increment (or thrown range increment) based on the number of BP you spend on this perk. For 1 BP, increase the range increment by 50%. For 2 BP, instead increase the range increment by 100%. For 3 BP, instead increase the range increment by 200%. You can apply this perk only to ranged weapons or melee weapons with the thrown special property.
Lightweight: Decrease the weapon’s bulk by 1. If this would reduce the bulk to 0, the weapon instead has light bulk.
Line Strike: The weapon gains the line and unwieldy special properties. The BP cost of the extended range perk increases by 1. You can only apply this perk to ranged weapons.
Reliable: After rolling the weapon’s damage, you can choose one die whose result was 1 and treat it as though it had rolled a higher number based on the weapon’s damage die size: 2 for d3 or d4, 3 for d6, 4 for d8, 5 for d10, or 6 for d12.
Sniper (1+): The weapon gains the sniper weapon special property with a range based on the number of BP you spend on this perk: 125 feet for 1 BP, 250 feet for 2 BP, or 500 feet for 3 BP. If you apply this perk to a sniper weapon, double the sniper special property’s range. You can apply this perk only to ranged weapons.
Special property: The weapon gains a weapon special property from the following list: block, boost, bright, disarm (melee only), injection, penetrating, quick reload, stun, or trip (melee only).

Scaling Weapon Progression

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 144

WEAPON LEVEL	DAMAGE DICE	BUILD POINTS	SPECIAL DAMAGE
1	1d6	1	1d4
2	1d6	2	1d4
3	1d6	2	1d6
4	1d6	3	1d6
5	1d6	4	1d6
6	1d6	5	1d8
7	2d4	5	1d8
8	2d6	5	1d8
9	2d6	6	1d8
10	3d4	6	2d6
11	3d6	6	2d6
12	4d6	6	3d6
13	5d6	6	3d6
14	6d6	6	3d6
15	7d6	6	4d6
16	8d6	6	4d6
17	9d6	6	4d6
18	10d6	6	5d6
19	11d6	6	5d6
20	12d6	6	6d6

Weapon Base Statistics

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 144

WEAPON TYPE	DAMAGE DIE SIZE	HANDS	RANGE	BULK
Advanced Melee	Increase one step	1	—	1
Basic Melee	No change	1	—	1
Heavy Weapon	Increase one step	2	60 ft.	2
Longarm	No change	2	60 ft.	1
Small Arm	Reduce one step	1	30 ft.	L
Sniper	No change	2	60 ft.	2

Upgrading Gear

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 146
Once you’ve gained a level or two, it’s likely time to upgrade your gear. When making upgrades, there are two important considerations: who’s doing the work and how substantial the changes are. These considerations affect how long the process takes and how much it costs, occasionally having additional impacts.
Performing an upgrade typically takes 8 hours.When you upgrade an item, use its new item level to calculate its base statistics like Armor Class bonuses and damage dice, modified by perks, item type, and other properties. If the new level grants more perks than the previous item granted, choose and apply an additional number of perks equal to the difference. Rarely, the new item might grant fewer perks, such as using the optional price adjustment (see the sidebar on page 143) to upgrade a high-price item to a low-price item of a higher level; if so, remove a number of perks equal to the difference in BP.
When upgrading the item, you can also replace some of the old item’s features (see Upgrade Scope below).

Upgrade Scope

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 146
The more extensive the upgrades, the more expensive the project. When upgrading an item, you can make one minor change for every item level the item gains. This allows you to tweak the item gradually without difficulty. A minor change might include the following.

Replace one perk with another perk for which the item qualifies. If the replaced perk costs more than one perk slot to acquire, replace it with one or more perks whose total cost equals the replaced perk’s cost.
Reduce item’s number of perks by 1, and remove the item’s flaw.
Apply a drawback to the item, granting the item an additional perk.
Change a weapon’s damage type. This might also change the weapon’s ammunition type or damage die size.
Change the number of hands required to wield a weapon.
Add or remove the operative or unwieldy special weapon property.

Major Changes: Sometimes you need to overhaul an item’s design, and those changes can be costly. You can apply one or more major changes when upgrading an item, with each major change increasing the upgrade cost by 5%. Typical major changes include the following:

Change an armor’s type (such as light to heavy).
Change a weapon’s type (such as advanced melee to longarm).
Make up to three minor changes.
Rebuild the item using a special material, such as reforging a doshko out of adamantine alloy. The cost of the special material is added to the upgrade cost.

Radical Changes: Rarely, you just want to rebuild everything. In a process that takes 8 hours and requires a tech workshop, you can transform the item (minimum item level 3) into a different scaling item whose item level is 2 lower—such as changing a 5th-level heavy laser weapon into a 3rd-level suit of light armor. You redesign all aspects of the item in the process.

Optional: Upgrade Labor

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 146
When upgrading gear, you can usually assume that a PC commissions an NPC to do the work or that the PC handles the labor in a consistent yet unremarkable way. However, some PCs are exceptional craftspeople eager to apply their skills. With this optional variant, a PC might be able to reduce the necessary time or expense involved in scaling gear.
When beginning work, a PC must have proper tools as well as supplies available (UPBs or the equivalent in spare parts) equal to 110% times the desired upgrade’s cost. They decide whether to decrease the upgrade time or decrease the upgrade cost. The PC then begins the work, attempts a skill check partway through the process, and applies an effect based on the skill check’s result.
Attempting the Check: For most upgrades, a PC uses Engineering. However, Mysticism might be appropriate for hybrid and magical gear. The DC for modifying gear equals 10 + 1-1/2 × the gear’s new item level.
Result: The impact of the PC’s specialized labor depends on the check’s result. Using the Upgrade Result table, compare the check’s result to the task’s DC; the effect depends on how much the check’s result exceeded or fell short of the DC. The cost can never by reduced to less than the difference between the higher level item’s price and the lower level item’s price.

Upgrading Result

Source Starfinder Enhanced pg. 146

CHECK RESULT	UPGRADE TIME	COST
Fail by 5 or more	6d6 hours	Increase by 10%
Fail by 4 or less	8 hours	No change
Succeed by 4 or less	4 hours	Decrease by 5%
Succeed by 5–9	1d4 hours	Decrease by 10%
Succeed by 10 or more	1 hour	Decrease by 20%

Archives of Nethys

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