Class Feature Friday: Thaumapathy Field of Study (Biohacker Field of Study)
(art by ForestGem on DeviantArt)
With the presence of healing magic, it should go without saying that medicine and magic are heavily intertwined in a science fantasy system like Starfinder.
However, while everyone expects magic to assist and bolster medicine beyond the bounds of what is possible, today we’re going to focus on medicine that enhances magic instead!
Indeed, thaumapathy is the study of the natural magical fields generated by living things, and how to bolster or inhibit them. This is a bit more esoteric than other forms of medicine, but by exploiting the interplay between mystical forces and the bodies that possess them, these biohackers seek to fully understand that relationship.
These professionals might live in a magical society where understanding how drugs can affect magic and vice versa is extremely important, or they might instead come from societies whose enemies are magical and they might focus on ways to inhibit their magic, or maybe a bit of both. Alternatively, their goals might not be to better their own society but rather their own personal interest in magic. They might be minor casters themselves through multiclassing or the use of certain feats, or they might focus on thaumapathy as an alternative after discovering no talent for magic of their own.
Regardless, these doctors are the bane of enemy mages and a boon to those who are allied to them whether they practice magic of their own or not.
The booster associated with these doctors bolsters the natural magical field of the subject, causing them to gain a minor spell resistance or bolstering what they already had.
The inhibitor, meanwhile, disrupts the flow of magic in the body, reducing the statistical aspects of spells, and forcing a spellcaster to spend more time to cast spells.
The breakthrough associated with thaumapathy reenergizes the subject, renewing their magical energy to let them cast an additional spell that day. However, for safety and tolerance reasons, an individual can only benefit from one of these breakthrough boosters per day.
Biohackers already replicate nonmagical versions of serums, but you can make them even more magically aligned with theorems like Ampoule Expertise, Energized Assault, Morphing Hack, Ampoule Mastery, as well as others that can buff or debuff.
Expect to be facing a lot of casters and/or have more than one caster in the party? This field of study might prove quite useful indeed. Being able to grant spell resistance just before a fight is great, as is debuffing spell saves, durations, and damage.
A fascination with magic is pretty much required with this archetype, but the fact that they can’t use true spells themselves can be a source of interesting character questions as well. They might simply lack the inborn spark to cast spells, be focused on their work to the point that they are limited to minor spellcasting, or be even more akin to the alchemists of old and simply invoke their magic through elixers and serums. How they feel about it, however, is up to you as the player.
Taking their massive citadel ship into the Mos Nebula, the dwarves have discovered it to be full of all sorts of wild magic and creatures that utilize it. In order to combat this, the system admins have set about having the ship doctors researching how to inoculate the crew against such magic.
Eager to bring order to a primitive world, the Hellknight Commander Ertrikos takes on a contract to bring the natives of a new colony world to heel so the corporation can secure exclusive control of the world’s minerals. However, neither they nor their corporate employers expect the magic of the natives, and the way they enhanced it with stimulating chemicals.
Dr. Undvall has always hated magic, seeing it as a violation of a stable and just cosmos. He may not be able to destroy magic in it’s entirety, but he can discourage it’s use, and he’s working on a version of his inhibitor formula that can be deployed on a global scale, turning magic into a distant and unreliable tool.
