The idea of hoverboards has been something floating in the gestalt for a long time, making its way into movies, video games, anime, and comics over and over again. After all, what would make skateboarding or surfing cooler? Why, being able to do it anywhere and fly while doing it, obviously!
There isn’t a clear niche for them in Starfinder though, as they aren’t really a vehicle, but are definitely a mode of transportation. Here are some basic rules for hover boarding and a generic board.
Hoverboarding
Using a hoverboard magnifies simple movement, but makes turns and complex movement much more difficult. Dropping a board to the ground and stepping onto it is a swift action that does not provoke. Using a hoverboard allows the user to ignore difficult terrain. Any movement in a straight line is done at the user’s land speed, but is increased by the board’s speed bonus (+5ft for the base board), this is a mechanical bonus to speed and does not stack with any other mechanical bonus. On a double move, the bonus is applied twice to the second move of the turn (so +10ft for the base board), so long as the user does not change the direction of their movement by more than a 45 degree angle with the second move action. This carries over to subsequent turns, but decreases back to the base bonus if a turn of more than 45 degrees is made between movement actions. The user may use the run action while on the board and traveling in a straight line, adding the mechanical bonus of the board to their land speed before quadrupling it for the action. Attempting to move not in a straight line during a move action while on the board reduces the user’s land speed by half. The user may make an athletics check to jump while moving with the board, and is considered to have a running start when doing so. The mechanical bonus from the board is added to the user’s land speed as normal when calculating the speed bonus to the athletics check for the jump.
Using a hoverboard takes balance, and the amount needed goes up when attempting anything complex while riding the board. Here is a table of the acrobatics checks needed. Failing a check means you fall off the board and take falling damage as though you had fallen a distance equal to the total mechanical bonus being provided by the board for that action.
| Simple standing on a hoverboard | Requires a DC 5 acrobatics check |
| Using a hoverboard as part of a move action | Requires a DC 8 acrobatics check |
| Attempting an athletics check while on the board | Requires a DC 10 acrobatics check |
| Attempting a simple trick | Requires a DC 10 acrobatics check |
| Firing a small arm while on the board | Requires a DC 12 acrobatics check |
| Firing a long arm while on the board | Requires a DC 14 acrobatics check |
| Attempting a physical skill check (sleight of hand, engineering, etc) while on the board | Requires a DC 16 acrobatics check |
| Firing a heavy weapon while on the board | Requires a DC 16 acrobatics check |
Further check DCs are left to the GM to determine, with the understanding that the more complex the action attempted the greater the DC will be to stay on the board. Stunts and tricks beyond simple kick flips and grinds will require both an acrobatics check and athletics check, with the DCs determined by the GM.
BASIC HOVERBOARD
Price 300
Speed Bonus +5ft (hover)
HP 14 (7), Hardness 5
Modifiers -1 to attacks
Passengers 1
(unlike a vehicle, a hoverboard does not have it’s own EAC and KC. It is instead treated as held equipment, and can only be targeted specifically by sunder and disarm actions.)
Jeremy Corff
Artist and Writer