Infinite Futures is a big book with a lot of moving parts. Its also probably one of the most complete experiences I've ever seen in the subject of space and scifi for Pathfinder. As such its more of a huge overlay of the game rather than an attachment so it often tramples on one of my big pet peeves, being too different to really use with other things. To give it a shot I wanted to look beyond that and evaluate it based on how much it achieves on it's own and how smoothly it goes. Also since this is a huge book, going over 350 pages I have to be brief or else I'll be here all day.
Introduction
The Introduction is lengthy describing how to use the book and some logic to how it works. This includes it's own classifications on technology levels going from monkey grunts to might as well be a god. For it's purposes it's pretty useful but not as useful as others that I've seen where global proficiency rules are provided in the descriptions. The whole section is more about thematic considerations than mechanical ones. The book goes into it more later so I'll get to it later.
Origins
This chapter is about races. You have your standard created android race, created mutants, Robocops (Human parts in a robot body), Humans that are slightly different from standard, and a random alien race generator. Each race is quite lively, having a lot of bits and pieces to shove on to make it more unique but I have a few problems with the created android race, namely that its divided funky making it hard to distinguish what's what. its easy to figure out but I always have to point that kind of thing out when I see it. Besides that I don't see many problems personally but there are bits that I can see as potentially problematic. For example: the android race can have +6 strength and +2 intelligence. Sure this comes at the price of -4 wisdom and charisma, but stat changes of over +2 tend to be a minmaxer's wet dream while going up to +6 can potentially be a nightmare to deal with. Some options are annoyingly saved for later in the book.
Classes
The classes inside are the Exporer(space Ranger), the Field Medic (space Cleric?), the infiltrator(space Rogue), the Scoundrel(other space Rogue), the Tech (space Wizard), and the Trooper(space Fighter). That isn't exactly fair. The classes inside have some superficial similarities to their sister classes but have some unique abilities that let them stand out on their own and some are better than their counterparts and emphasize the options further in the book.
However this is where I have to divide how I feel about these and how they stand in their own microcosm. Taking into account other 3pp options these classes are useless to me. Between Psionics, Anachronistic Adventures and the numerous technomancer classes I have I have no reason to allow these classes that have a limited scope and variance. But them being around doesn't exactly hurt anybody. Nothing is particularly broken and everything is clear mechanically even if in some places the formatting makes things confusing. There is an issue that the Techie is an INT based class that has +10 skill ranks per level(?!) making me have to re-read everything to see how this was balanced in whatever way. I don't think it is. Instead of casting some classes have something called Insights, which are pretty much spells that aren't spells but Macguyverisms. They and are pretty much spells with a short spell list. You have to suspend some disbelief and make some assumptions to describe how these actually work.
Skills
There are new skills. I already have problems with new skills so I had to sit down and really think about them in context. The skills are Boat (already exists), Computer Use (expected), Demolitions, (Narrow), new uses for Disable Divice, Drive (already exists), First Aide (already exists), Engineering (already exists), clarifications and reiterations of Escape Artist Fly, Linguistics and Perform, (what's happening here?), Knowledge Galactic, Pilot (redundant), and Zero-G. This is why I praise how the Technology Guide handled skills using the Technologist feat. The entire skills chapter just complicates my character sheets with 9 whole new skills to the skill list and most of them are redundant to each other if not functions of existing skills. There had to have been a better way to do this, it just doubles down on the limitation placed on non Infinite Futures classes from multiclassing into space age classes and putting ranks in ranks in space age skills. The redundancy is beyond annoying too. Some of these skills could have really been mashed together. I've seen similar products add new functions to old skills and Pilot and Computer Use but nine new classes just wrecks everybody. Except the Techie who by nature gets more skill ranks than anybody ever.
Feats
Inside are new feats to help you along your space age campaign. Right off the bat I have a problem. The first feat refers to the skill, Knowledge (Earth and Life Sciences). Where was that last chapter? I may be missing something. The rest are pretty standard although I noticed a glitch here and there involving a lack of action designation for abilities.
Insights
Here we learn about insights and how they work and what terms they use. They're spells much like the Alchemist, Machinesmith, Technician, and Cyborg 'spells'. I have to say that I'm not feeling it in this case. The insights themselves are nothing fancy although one is way more complicated than it needs to be, I just find some non-spells hard to justify and in most instances there's more flavor to make me believe the spell format on a technology focused character. Here I'm not buying Macguyverisms being non-spell abilities and it becomes even weirder that it works by a per day basis.
Augments
There are mechanical and biological augments. Previously there was a lot of information thrown around like augments that finally get a payoff here. They cost money and a feat. Money because its an actual item and feat as a resource limiter, something I kind of hate because augmentations aren't equal so doubling down on what resources they cost is infuriatingly bad when they have the same basic cost (a feat). Plus this came out in 2015 when more than a few products including the Technology Guide presented cyberware that was limited by Con and/or Int making this kind of pricing feel archaic. Judging them as just feats, they range from weaker than existing feats (skill chip is outright inferior to Skill Focus and has a monetary cost) to okay.
Personal Gear
This chapter covers items like weapons, armor and general gear. It spans across multiple technological levels meaning that if you're using the Pathfinder Core Rulebook a lot of this information is useless. Minor changes are made though so you'll have to take a close look to see the differences. Also firearms work differently, damage being based on ammunition with their own effects. Everything functions within this context although the changes means that you have to learn this weapons system. I do find it overly complicated but not bad. It tries to cover a lot of bases which in some ways hurt the product by how complex things by not having a single space age as it's foundation. It certainly makes the tables kind of hard to sort through.
Vehicles
The vehicle section is over complicated in my opinion, becoming a massive blur of tables after a while and overall its difficult to decipher what's going on. The end result is actually rather simple to deal with once the craft is constructed.
Travel & Adventure
This section describes engines and how fast they go (why wasn't this in the previous section?) as well as well as hazards. Overall I question the math used but it functions for what it is.
Combat
Space age weapons use Wisdom for ranged weapons. This bothers me to no end but I'll let it slide. It also adds to and reiterates actions in combat, something that could have been just mentioned in the item section because all of the new actions involve specific kinds of items so a large chunk of this section didn't even need to exist. The rest is reiterating rules that already exist and information that should have been in other sections of the books. Among the new things is describing more about how space vehicles work within their own action economy, which should have been in the vehicle section.
Psionics
Inside this section we have a psionic class with a GM fiat/feat barrier. Why this isn't in the class section is beyond me. As far as formatting goes, until you get to the description of the powers the thing is a mess, including text invading tables and typos. I'm not sure why bother with this class. It's painfully inferior in every way I can think of to Dreamscarred Press' Psionics. EVERY way. I can't even say that it can stand on it's own in general.
Gamemastering
NPC stat blocks and some setting advice.
I had high hopes for this book but I really don't like it. The vehicle rules are handy along with some of the weapons/armor, and the race creator is interesting, but overall it's a complicated addition to the game with information spread weirdly, typos, bad formatting, and just doesn't play nice with the rest of the game and certainly doesn't play nice with any other third party thing that I may bring alongside it. And somehow this version comes out after the Technology Guide from Paizo and still feels outdated to the point where it feels like a discount 3.5 product than something for Pathfinder.
There are interesting things here. Some things that I may pick up while gold digging for house rules but as a whole I just have better rules for most of this subject and more that I know is in development. I'm giving this two out of five stars. There's a bit of gold digging here but playing with this is difficult and wonky and when other things are added including Pathfinder's core rules it just stops working altogether.
You can find it on Paizo.com over here.
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