Wondering what the XP cost would look like on an archetype starting with the ability to fly.

In something like Pathfinder, where tactical movement is so important, I would say that a race that could fly at 1st level without any investment would be way too strong, but for Genesys, where movement and positioning are a bit less important, I wonder if it would be too strong to start, especially with the new spell granting the ability to fly (by turning into a flying creature), although it does limit you on what actions you can take (since you're presumably a bird, or the like, and no longer a humanoid wielding weapons and magic).

What do you think a talent would look like granting flight?

It depens 😀

How powerfull are other races and how big a deal is flight in the setting.

I would say 15-20 xp but you could consider making it a talent. The species could start with just the ability to glide and then add the cost of full flight to a talent

@yeti1069

In Star Wars, they added this species:

GEONOSIAN

Source: Rise of the Separatists (p12)

Br 2, Ag 2, Int 2, Cu 1, Will 1, Pr 1

W. Th: 9 + Br; S. Th: 9 + Will

Starting XP: 140

Special Ab: 1 rank in choice of any one skill (max 2).

Industrious: A Geonosian who provides assistance adds 1 Boost to the check, in addition to the normal benefits of assistance, and the Geonosian heals 1 Strain.

Winged: Geonosians can fly.

It is a very potent out of combat ability, as it essentially makes the verticality and size of the world far less relevant as a burden to exploration, looting and so forth.

In combat, it depends on how common and how potent ranged attack options are. Flying in Genesys offers no defense against ranged attacks (if you fly out of range, you are essentially leaving the encounter). If a Flyer is looking at be blown out of the sky by arrows, magic missiles, assault rifle bursts, etc, they won't be breaking anything.

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The Expanded Player's Guide gives the mutant Flyer as one of their mutation choices (they pick it, or one of the follow: Amphibious, +1 Soak, a free maneuver, or +2 damage and a Crit rating of 3 to unarmed attacks). The archetype is otherwise a low stat, high starting Exp one, much like Droids in Star Wars or Biroids in Beanstalk.

Depends on if you mean actual Fly or just Hover (many use the terms interchangeably).

Per page 100 of the CRB, hover is restricted to medium range of the ground so is less "game breaking" since you can't just fly up a 200m cliff face. Flight, on the other hand, has no range restriction and allows for quicker movement (long to short [and vice versa] as a single manoeuvre). That provides more options and is more "powerful" than hover.

Personally, I price Hover at 10 XP and flight at 15 XP. 20 XP if the species can do both.

@salamar_dree , I would be wary of using SWRPG as reliable source of numbers for Genesys . Sure, the underlying system is the same, but the numbers (and how the numbers are calculated) aren't the same. Decent starting point? Sure, maybe. But not a one-stop-shop.

I was just pointing it out as a source to draw upon.

In any case, playtesting is the only way to tell if a Species is balanced.

Thanks folks, that was definitely helpful!