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Chapter 2: Character Creation / Ability Scores

Optional Method: Ability Quick Picks

Source Starfinder Core Rulebook pg. 19
Sometimes you’re making a character in a hurry and don’t care about precisely customizing your ability scores. If that’s the case for you, you can pick one of the arrays on page 20 and assign each value to the ability score of your choice—for instance, if your array is 18, 14, 11, 10, 10, 10, you put the 18 in one ability score (probably your class’s key ability score), the 14 in a different score, and so on until they’ve all been assigned. Under this method, choices like race and theme don’t affect your ability scores—you just choose which score goes in which ability, and you’re good to go. The focused array creates a specialist, the split array makes someone with multiple talents, and the versatile array makes a jack-of-all-trades.

FOCUSED18, 14, 11, 10, 10, 10
SPLIT16, 16, 11, 10, 10, 10
VERSATILE14, 14, 14, 11, 10, 10

Once you’ve chosen which abilities to put your scores in, write them down in the appropriate boxes on your character sheet, then check Table 2–1 to find your corresponding ability modifiers and write those down as well—they’re explained in Ability Modifiers and Ability Checks on page 21.

Example of Ability Quick Picks

Let’s say you’re making a ysoki technomancer with the outlaw theme. With the quick picks system, you don’t need to know anything except which abilities are most important for your character. Fortunately, all the classes offer guidance in this regard in their Key Ability Score sections—you can find a quick summary on Table 2–3.

In this case, let’s say you decide you want your character to be fairly specialized, so you select the focused array, and the technomancer class advises you to put your best score (18) in Intelligence, and your next highest (14) in Dexterity. You decide to put the 11 in Constitution, to help you better survive the rigors of adventuring, and put the three remaining 10s in Strength, Wisdom, and Charisma. And that’s all there is—you write those values down on your character sheet, look at Table 2–1 to jot down the corresponding ability modifier for each ability score, then move on to the rest of character creation.