#barathu

[honourablejester]

Still on the subject of Starfinder 2e, though, the playtest rulebook had this fantastic art of a rockstar-looking borai:

Which. Undead rockstar lashunta. Noice.

They also have a magic item in the equipment section called the Diva’s Microphone, which is an ‘ostentatious crystal microphone is embellished with glimmering jewels and delicate lights that pulse in time to music’, and which amplifies your voice out to 500ft and grants +1 to performance. It also lets you cast the sonic scream spell. You can get levelled versions that increase the bonus and the level of the spell.

So. You know. I now kind of want to make a borai envoy with the ‘in the spotlight’ leadership style and the icon background and give her this item and basically make an undead Macross-style spaceship idol singer?

Also, sidenote, I enjoy how they made the borai a versatile lineage. That is one PF2e style conversion that I appreciate. Imma put borai on a dwarf. Also ysoki. What does a mostly-undead barathu look like? Thoughts!

[dailycharacteroption]

Roleplay Ramblings: Alien Anatomy and Equipment part 3

(art taken from Alien Archive 1, credit goes to the original artist)

Interfaces

Computers are a big part of most galactic civilizations, what with such processors being required to control starships, vehicles, advanced machines, and of course, are an integral part of all but the simplest comm units.

But while most humanoids are quite comfortable with touchpads, keyboards, and either physical or holographic screens or headsets, others might struggle with them. Which is where we’ll begin, like yesterday, breaking down things be a few useful example species.

Going back to Bantrids, the immediate thing we have to consider is the fact that a bantrid requires constant movement to feel safe and at ease. A computer console for them must have a mini treadmill for them to roll on while they use it, for example. Furthermore, because their grasper tendrils are so close to where their eyes are, I imagine they already have an acute ability to focus on objects very close to their eyes, but for protection from bright screen, most probably prefer portable computers that project their displays holographically away from their bodies.

Meanwhile, most vehicles built for bantrids likely are steered by the bantrids’s own motion on a treadmill that they are locked into place on top of, which things like gearshift and consol controls being bult near the top of their bodies near both pairs of tendrils, making for a pilot seat that is very enclosed, likely with a wide glass front for maximum visibility.

While this is probably true for all psychic species, the physical difficulties that contemplatives have make physical controls undesirable, causing them to favor psychic control methods instead, with computers that have built in telepathic interfaces which may display output either physically or mentally, depend on preference and what other species need to use them. Similarly, they would favor vehicles with the same sort of interfaces.

On that note, how do you design an interface for a creature a creature that cannot see at all? Khizar are telepathic, but they lack sight, relying on vibration and life-sensing to get around, and even those are relatively short range. As such, displays for them, including vehicles, need to have a 360 degree sensory suit that projects a map of spoofed vibrational and life signatures in order to give context to what the computer is controlling or what is around the vehicle.

Meanwhile, beings of living plasma like novians need computers that are sensitive to the arcing energy tethers that are effectively their “limbs” while also being resistant to the damage prolonged exposure to those discharges (and their body heat) could do to most electronics.

Also, consider the two giants of biotech, the barathu and the raxilites. Raxilites in particular focus on engineered plants, creating living starships that resemble giant plants or even whole forests. Consider how such biotech might interface with the user, with things like direct sensory linkage, pheromonal messages, and the like.

Consider also that Raxilites almost certainly use miniaturized personal computers with holographic displays capable of projecting both fine images for their convenience and larger ones when they need to display for others.

As silicon-based life forms that prefer to preserve energy whenever possible, urogs most likely prefer computers with voice commands and subtle mental controls, but also possess manual controls for high-energy moments when physical action is needed. Imaging an urog grabbing the yoke of a starship or flying vessel in their dexterous manipulator trunk and steering with it.

Consider also how multi-tentacled races like scyphozoans and vilderaro would set up their computer consoles, perhaps with keyboards that nearly wrap around them, as well as multiple screens to feed their multiple receptors.

Finally, consider the modular computers that would be used by vlaka. Congenital blindness and deafness are common in this species, so building computers with tactile controls and non-audible interfaces would be paramount, especially switches that could be toggled manually when a device is transferred between users without navigating menus would be important, allowing the user to be able to access different options and accessibility options on the fly to suit their needs.

I think that will do for today, but tomorrow we’ll be stepping away from technology to focus on how different species would use magic in unique ways.

[enddaysengine]

Gonna run A Cosmic Birthday as a solo adventure using MGME2. Here’s me blorbos:

Sublime Chemistry - Barathu Envoy - What if Gordon Ramsey was a jellyfish?

Jahir, Warden of Past and Future - Kasatha Witchwarper - Precog

Cesca - Shirren Operative - Swarm Exile

Jo Bob - Prismeni Goblin Solarion - Living battery on a goblin. What could go wrong?

[reckless-glitch]

we played a starfinder one shot over the weekend and I think the character I played would be a great addition to Doc's following

working on a little side story to add them in bit they're a Doomed Future Precog jellyfish (barathu) who is fatalistic but playful about it and I think they'd be drawn in by the catalyst domain of Doc's godhood

Something like searching for the one tiny detail that sets the future on the path of destruction and trying to alter it just enough to make things better but then realizing that its better to focus on the reconstruction domain and find a way to make doom into a positive

[tenosit]

Yeah, that's just a place where D&D runs into its goal of being a combat game - flying is just too good of a positional advantage over many NPCs on the level of granularity D&D goes for. If, say, it was fully focused on pure theatre of the mind, or if battlefield was fully 2D, it wouldn't matter as much. Flying from get go thus is pretty rare across D&D's whole span of existence.

But, if it sounds interesting, here are a number of flying creatures that have gotten playable stats across D&D's history.

Desmodu and Nycters - two MM bat-humanoid species from 3e days, surprisingly acknowledging each others' existence - they are relatives, if not most friendly ones. Desmodu are Large and possess a sonic screech, while Nycters are small and are weak to it.

Raptorans - also from 3e, "siblings" of Goliaths and Illumians in that they were introduced in "Races of ___" books. They are a people with eagle wings, having gained flight due to pact with Elemental Lord of Air in return for obligation to answer their call to arms. They are a patient, philosophical culture, with druids earning high respect. They have a pretty extensive writeup in Races of the Wild, but didn't stick as much as Goliaths did.

Anthropomorphic Animals - finally in 3e, this template came with list of sample stats for players, including Bat, Eagle and Raven. No lore obviously, but if it were polished I am sure it would have found an audience today.

Sphinxes - yeah. The BECMI supplement Top Balista provided classes (this being not AD&D so no race) to play a line of air-related creatures - from bird people and pegataurs, to nagpa and gnomes (they have a flying city in Mystara). Sphinx is definitely the most potent option, offset by big XP track, but I personally would love to play one.

Also, not direct D&D product though D&D blood, but I like that Starfinder offers a number of flying species, given its sci-fi and flight is less of a defense when most enemies have guns. Large Dragonkin, gas-floating Barathu, psionically-propelled Contemplatives of Ashok, the flamboyant butterfly-like "imago" of Dessamar are some that I have converted to D&D 5e rules for personal use.

there should be. more options to get a character with wings in dnd

[seafleece]

*goes overboard on drawing a oneshot character*

basilica di barathus, satyr cleric to/creation of an unnamed goddess who can’t manifest on the material plane! i’m playing them in a cleric battle royale oneshot and they have some nasty tricks up their sleeve

[the-majestic-acid-bear]

the starfinder party and ship. Aeron (before and after waking up from a 700 year long transfer from 1e to starfinder) the human Solarian. Aski the Ysoki Ex space nazi (he’s learning) mechanic. Karl the Barathu Operative who has left his people. and finally the Spaceforce 1, Previously owned by one Jabez Mallory of Mallory Real estate before his head exploded for reasons.

[serendipitousoracle]

i’m drawing @muffinyouadorablelittleshit‘s D&D character (or well one of 42000) while he watches and i think i’m doing a great job

[das-boog]

Finally finished this pic of the starfinder party I run, shoutout to my players who basically write my favorite anime ever.

Lore tidbits that deviate from the rulebooks so far include:

-the undead world eox’s language has the same root words for “living” and “child” and functionally considers you an “adult” when you die at your first job and get reanimated, regardless of age.

- the Pact Worlds functions essentially like the space UN, complete with a strict limit on internal involvement as a prequasite of getting worlds to join

- the veskariums policy of outward conquest never completely stopped, but now happens under the guise of humanitarian aide a la modern imperialism, to varied response by the vesk themselves

-fairies are assholes

- goblins are KINDA assholes but its more understandable.

- barathu have thick boston accents

- nobody good has enough funding for anything

[toasterpip]

This Barathu has seen every single Blasto the Jellyfish movie. Perhaps it's gone to their head...

[honourablejester]

Starfinder 2e Playtest

Okay, I found a humble bundle literally on its last couple of hours, and bought the Starfinder 2e Playtest Rulebook.

I haven’t heard too much about Starfinder’s second edition, but from what I’ve gathered, it’s aimed to bring the mechanical side of Starfinder closer to Pathfinder 2e. Possibly even to make the two games compatible with each other, so you can bring elements of one into the other. Which … Mixed feelings? Starfinder has a very different vibe and power level, I think, so not sure how that’s going to gel. And from what I’ve read of the book so far, it is very much Starfinder running on a Pathfinder 2e chassis. Which, okay.

The playtest rulebook feels like its written primarily for people coming to Starfinder from PF2e, though, instead of people coming from Starfinder 1e, which felt a little odd to me.

As an example of this, the skills chapter talks about what you can use the Pathfinder skills for in a science fantasy setting, and says that Starfinder introduces the two new skills of Computers and Piloting, but doesn’t at all mention how someone coming from Starfinder 1e’s skills can interpret them. Life science and physical science are now apparently lores, for example, both bluff and disguise come under deception, etc. That’s not stated, though, you’re just given the list of skills and have to figure out what’s where. Which, you could figure it out, but the book is clearly written using Pathfinder expectations as the base, not Starfinder ones?

This really feels like it’s updating Pathfinder to the Starfinder setting, not updating Starfinder to the Pathfinder system, if you follow me? And I’m not sure how I feel about it.

That said. A couple other semi-random thoughts.

The ancestries were always going to be one of the wonky conversions. Starfinder 1e has an absolutely fantastic and lengthy list of playable ancestries, because they’re like D&D 5e’s races, in that they’re a one-and-done deal. You get your basic set of traits and you’re off. To convert that to PF2e’s style ancestries, with their feats as you level, mean that it’s a lot more work to write Starfinder 2e ancestries, and there’s a bit of me that’s afraid that means there’s going to be a lot less of them. Your choice of cool aliens to play is going to be a lot more limited. (Please, I want Sarcesians, they’re my favourites!)

That said. Some of the feats are really cool? This book has 12 ancestries, and two of my favourites, the ysoki and the borai, are in there, but the one that caught my eye was the barathu, which didn’t really catch my interest in 1e, but 2e takes their ‘bag of self-programmable gas and biological goo’ thing, their ability to tailor their own evolution in real time, and turns it into some really cool and fun feats. My favourite pair are Vent Gas (lvl 5) and Corrosive Venting (lvl 13), because barathus are flying sacks of gas, and you can make like a squid and vent a bunch of it at once to give yourself cover and propel yourself away, and then level that up to vent acidic gas later on. Which is, *chef’s kiss*, absolutely do want.

I’m definitely not so hot on the backgrounds. I do miss themes, which was where 1e gave you your ‘feats as you level’, tailored to what you do more than what you are. PF2e style backgrounds a little bit boring by comparison.

The classes I don’t have as much of an opinion on, as I’d have to play them to see what they feel like.

The skills … Skills are definitely tripping me up some. I did kind of like 1e’s system where you got a number of ranks to distribute per level and you levelled up your skills manually. Pathfinder’s trained-expert-master-legendary is a weird mental conversion. I am enjoying some of the Starfinder-specific PF2e-style skill feats, though. Like ‘Percussive Maintenance’ if you’re expert in crafting, which is exactly what it sounds like (hit a glitchy tech item to make it un-glitch itself).

I don’t really have a conclusion here. I’ve only just gotten the book, this was just the first idle browse. Definitely mixed feelings so far. It is weirding me out a bit that it’s so firmly based in Pathfinder rather than Starfinder in terms of expectations and explanations, I will say that. This is supposed to be Starfinder 2e, not Pathfinder 2e: Starfinder expansion. Or, well. Maybe I’m wrong about that? But it does more work to give Pathfinder players a cool new setting than it does to give Starfinder players some cool new mechanics. Pathfinder is the more popular system, so they probably do have reason to think that more people will have it as a baseline, but it does feel … a little rough towards the Starfinder player base? The skills tripped me up a lot, and I did have PF2e as my introduction to Paizo. But I liked the Starfinder skill system, so it’s tripping me up to adjust expectations in the Starfinder setting to PF mechanics.

But, you know. I’m willing to roll with it and see. Just. I would really like 2e Sarcesians? Also more mystic connections. I’m sure all that will build through the cycle, this is just playtest material.

If they’re taking feedback on the writing, definitely I’d say build some more Starfinder 1e expectations into how you’re explaining things? Like, I can figure out that engineering has been folding into crafting, and the social skills have all been rearranged, but some textual nod to that conversion might be nice, you know?

Anyhow! Carry on!

[dailycharacteroption]

Races Among the Stars 8: Haan

When we think of Bretheda’s many sapient species, one probably thinks of either the barathu or one of the many beings populating it’s numerous moons.

However, it’s easy to overlook that there is another species sharing the skies with everyone’s favorite form-altering jellyfish. I speak of course of the arthropoid haan, who sail through the skies of the gas giant on woven silk balloons! With these flotation devices and silken sails, haan can be shockingly agile in the air in their hunt for prey.

Although just as intelligent as other sapient species, the majority of haan society is extremely traditionalist, eschewing all but the simplest tools and weapons to hunt and roam the clouds of their homeworld as they have for millenia.

However, there are plenty of haan that leave their home to travel the stars and interact with other species across the galaxy, where they find their intuitive understanding of aeronautics gives them an edge as pilots.

This does come with a major drawback, as those who leave Bretheda are effectively exiled from their people, and written off as dead by their own families, unable to return. There is talk of these exiled haan creating a new colony home on a different gas giant, far from those traditionalist values, but most fear the upset that would be caused if they try recruiting directly from their kin still living on Bretheda.

Full disclosure, the appearance of the haan in their natural habitat versus the one wearing space armor… they almost look like different creatures. The haan native doesn’t look like it should be able to stand upright… Ah, but that’s just me.

In any case, haan resemble eight foot long, four-limbed arthropods with impressive mandible-like pedipalps near their mouths. They sport many barbs and bristles on their exoskeleton, which can be safely trimmed and groomed, fulfilling much the same role as hair does on mammalian species. They also possess silk glands which are equipped to create hollow balloons filled with light gasses from their internal stores to float themselves or whatever they attach them to in the air. Additionally, striking surfaces on their legs also allow them to ignite these gasses, making them an effective weapon as well.

As mentioned above, traditional haan society is very traditionalist and insular, eschewing many modern wonders in favor of retaining the hunter-gatherer society of their ancient past. While this is perfectly fine and viable, it does alienate and disown those haan who choose to join the wider galaxy, leaving them to struggle with their own cultural identity.

Strong and surprisingly agile despite their bulk, the haan’s focus on tradition over innovation has left most unused to exploring new ideas.

Their ability to ignite their own gasses allows them to have a strong weapon against multiple foes in an emergency.

While traditionalist haan are able to outright fly with their balloons and sails (not to mention sneak balloons onto foes to disrupt them), adventuring haan rarely do so, though they can reflexively craft a balloon on the fly to slow their fall in an emergency.

With their strength and dex, haan can excel in any combat role, favoring everything from soldier to evolutionist, solarian, vanguard, and even nanocyte. Outside of that, their dex bonus is also very useful for operative and even precog as well. Their weakness to intelligence does mean that mechanic and technomancer are hard picks for them, but they can get around this, as well as tap into non-intelligence options such as intuitive biohackers, mystics, and witchwarpers.

That does it for today, but I hope you enjoyed these floaty bugs. Tomorrow we’ll look into one of the new species from the Ports of Call book!

[kayawagner]

Star Log.EM-052: Borai Options

Publisher: Rogue Genius Games

By Alexander Augunas

Take your Starfinder campaign to new heights with Everyman Gaming’s Star Log.EM series! This high-crunch series specializes in everything from fantastic new aliens from recently discovered biomes to exciting new archetypes, feats, and class options based on futuristic ideology and traditional fantasy alike. Each week, a different Star Log.EM tackles a new, exciting topic.

This installment of Star Log.EM includes: 1,000 words introducing new options for borai, undead characters that have retained small slivers of their living form’s souls. Included within is a complete reprinting of borai racial traits, options to create borai for dozens of new races spanning from dwarves and elves to barathu and skittermanders, to kitsune and vishkanya and more. Also included is a new archetype for borai, the borai paragon, four new feats for borai characters, and a new reanimation spell specifically designed to raise corpses into borai.

The Star Log.EM series—Starfinder for tomorrow!

Price: $2.95 Star Log.EM-052: Borai Options published first on https://supergalaxyrom.tumblr.com

[barathus]

The First

It came suddenly, the rush of something unlocking inside of me. I'm still not sure what exactly happened, but I remember things. People. A family?

We fought hard for the Lich King. We defeated many, but in the end there was a light. It was hard to make out what it really was and I just sat there for a while, watching them argue amongst each other.

It was then that I saw her. Tall and mysterious. She moved her mouth in a strange upward angle, like a crescent moon. It took me too long to figure out she was smiling. Smiling at me. My decision to join the Alliance was actually made for me. In life, I had been a human. I lived in a village with a woman and a child. More than that, I couldn't remember but it was enough for them to send me to Stormwind.

Arriving in Stormwind, I received directions to their keep, but I got lost often as their layout makes little to no sense. There is no structure to it, no logic. The guards were of little help. Most of them looked at me and then quickly glanced away and pretended I wasn't there. Other people threw their food at me, I figured out it wasn't for them to share with me, but rather to show how they despised me. They should, I did kill their families and the people do get attached to their families.

Walking through the Trade district, I instantly felt like I would much rather return home to the Acherus. I had grown fond of the simplicity and the sense of direction I had there. Here, every street was lined with different buildings and you couldn't quite see what they were unless you'd go inside. I guess you could say I felt lost. Uncertainty doesn't suit me, it never has. The steps up to the keep are many and they could be a burden for attackers, a smart move of the King of Stormwind. Varian Wrynn was his name, the King I met. He held a long, formal speech for me and the other Death Knights. He proclaimed it against the law to spit on us, or throw food on us. I got distracted and looked around the throne room. There she was again, the same lady I saw at the fight. She was standing with more of the important people.

I got distracted by her. So much so that the King had to call me to attention and tell him my name. I lost my family name long ago and hesitated briefly before I gave him the only name I remembered; Barathus. Whether it was actually mine or not, I still don't know.  

[worldfortomorrow-blog]

Welcome to Nurion

            It was as it had always been. The Eternal Strife, constantly warring, constantly struggling. For the Great Powers of existence came in pairs, equal and opposite. As there was light, darkness also existed. Where there was order, disarray struggled against it. Where there was good, evil flourished. And this harmony in the heavens passed for an eternity, time beyond all comprehension, all the while struggling.           These Forces were all of existence, and all of existence was these Forces. They each claimed a portion for themselves. Good opposed evil, law opposed chaos, and all met in the center, where balance prevailed. These divisions of the universe, where one force prevailed over the others, became part of the Great Sphere. Nine divisions, eight sections of power, surrounded by the center. Millennia ago these inexorable forces begat spiritual places, and they were called planes of existence.            Heavenly Caelestin opposed evil Malor, orderly Cogiton opposed chaotic Nemux, passionately good Aeron opposed Hellish Barathus, and beautiful Efferenus opposed hopeless Carcus, all circling around the Concordia, the great balance. In the middle of the Concordia, at the center of the sphere, was all of the non-spiritual matter of the Multiverse. Untold eons of friction, of the ceaseless pushing of these cosmic Forces, pressed the Concordia, creating at its center a great Maelstrom of heat and pressure. And the heart of this Maelstrom of Friction condensed into a diamond of perfect beauty, flawless and unspoiled: the Lifestone of the Universe.            Upon seeing the beauty of this gem, the Forces changed. These once mindless Powers now knew desire, desire for this perfect gem. These desires slowly personified into creatures, mighty sentient beings with full-fledged emotions and minds of their own. And the Concordia simultaneously gave birth to a protector, a god whose sole purpose was to guard the gem. This being, called Dekk, was the strongest of all.            Hence came to be the nine original gods of the Universe. Caelestin begat Heshtail, Efferenus begat Bestra, Aeron begat Kantor, Cogiton begat Neltak, Nemux begat Bel, Barathus begat Lagur, Carcus begat Grlarshh, and Malor begat Soggoth. As each of these creatures came to be, the desire in their hearts was kindled, and they wanted the gem. And beholding this gem, something else became apparent-- although the stone was beautiful beyond compare, it was also the key to more, to the cessation of the perpetual cosmic struggle which burned within each of them. The want of the Lifestone grew. This desire became passion, this passion became anger, this anger became rage. And thus began the Ontological War.            Each of the gods desired the Lifestone, working to take it for his or her own. Knowing that they would be unable to wrest the stone directly from Dekk, as he was the most powerful of all of the gods, being the protector, the gods perceived that they must each defeat the other gods first, usurping their space in the Multiverse, to grow in power. As they absorbed the power of the other gods, they would be able to challenge Dekk and defeat him, claiming the Lifestone for their own.            Bel was the first to act: the nimble rogue attempted to steal Neltak's great axe. But Neltak saw him and struck out at him, meaning to end his life and take his power. The blow was true and would have killed Bel, but Dekk would not permit one Force to seize another's place, and he stopped the strike the only way he could: he interposed the Lifestone itself, using its powerful force to stop the blow. But the axe struck true, the edge bringing a small crack to the once perfect surface of the shining gem. Grlarshh cast a plague on Bestra, who struck back with a tremendous bash of her mighty shield. But Dekk was again there, stopping the power of Grlarshh's plague and Bestra's shield strike with the Lifestone.              Once again, damage was done; Bestra's shield created ripples on the surface of the stone, while Grlarshh's plague left spots of disease on the once shining jewel's face. Soggoth lashed out at Heshtail, his tentacles trying to rip Heshtail in twain. Heshtail met force with force, his staff deflecting Soggoth's blow, but shattering into many shards. Dekk intervened again, placing the Lifestone between the pair, Soggoth's spiny tentacles leaving a long mark on the gem, Heshtail's staff leaving splinters all through the gem. Lagur and Kantor warred with each other, each believing that they could defeat the other with but a single blow. They each mustered all of their power, lashing out at their opposite, only to be blocked once again by Dekk and the Lifestone. But again, the blows struck true. Kantor's axe sundered the gem, leaving a large crack, while Lagur's trident pierced it to the core. And thus rebuffed, each god returned to his or her place.              But Dekk was distraught, for the war of the gods had devastated the once perfect gem, leaving naught but a broken piece of rock in its place, flawed, irregular and imperfect. Unwilling to see any further destruction to his beloved jewel, he called for a halt to the hostilities, for a gathering of the gods. Hence began the Council of the Gods.              The council of gods lasted many ages, with talk about what could be done to save their precious Lifestone, the gem they all craved so much. Khuldul Rockcarver was assigned the task of repairing the gem, for he had great skill in working with gems of all sorts. Many ages he labored on the Lifestone, fixing some of the damage, but much of it was beyond his ability to repair.              Much of the harm done during The Ontological War was irreversible, a permanent mark left by the gods. And though this gem was no longer perfect, they still had a great desire for it, perceiving again that it was somehow the key to ending the war once and for all, and they named it Núrion, the Shattered Jewel.              Many things came from the Council, designed to prevent any further damage to Núrion the beloved. Seeing the destruction wrought by their strikes, each of the gods agreed never again to touch the gem, for fear they may further damage it. And out of fear of Dekk's power, the other gods cried mightily, for there could be no balance where one god had more power than others.             In the interest of neutrality, Dekk agreed to give up a portion of his own life essence to Núrion itself. To keep the balance, Dekk created two great entities, Tanarus and Sulis, which gave sentience and life force to the shattered jewel. And Dekk created the Universe Shell as a case for the gem, and he pierced the shell in many tiny spots to let light into its dark hollow space.              As the universe created all things in pairs, so the gods felt that they should be in pairs as well. Each god created his or her own helper, an aid of sorts, a creature of lesser power who could further the aims of his or her master and who was not constrained from touching the gem. And secretly the gods hoped that these lesser beings could grant them aid should the Ontological War be rejoined.              Only one god refused to make a single helper. Tal-Allustiel the farsighted refrained; instead he created several creatures, immortal, of insignificant power when compared to the gods, yet he prophesied that they would be a great helpmeet. He named his creation the Elhil, the Firstborn, for he sent them directly to live on the beloved rock known as Núrion, and they were the first creatures to live thereon.

[honourablejester]

Starfinder Cool Creatures

Okay, I only have the first two Alien Archives, but after a quick browse through, some space creatures that smashed my happy bone:

Asterays. As you’ll see from a couple of other creatures later, Starfinder happily leans into the whole ‘space is like an ocean’ trope here or there, and asterays are one of the first and prettiest manifestations of that. They are, essentially, space sirens. Kooky grey space fey with beautiful ‘tails’ that absorb cosmic radiation to propel them, they flit around vacuum and like to follow ships. And then ‘sing’ false signals and sensor readings to lure ships into dangerous locations, because while they can eat solar radiation, they prefer organics. They’re not malicious, they’re just hungry. And curious. And playful. And perfect, and I love them.

Garaggakal. You know the good old sci-fi trope of ‘hyperspace is scary and full of monsters’? *waves happily* While you’re bombing along happily through the grey quantum foam of the Drift, how would you like horrible bipedal lamprey monsters to phase through your ship’s walls and start trying to eat you? Would you like to play Alien meets Event Horizon? Because these yellowish winged ambush predators are perfectly happy to phase in and out of your ship over the course of a Drift voyage and pick off your crew one by one. This is such an old trope, but it’s such a good trope. Every FTL sci-fi setting needs a good hyperspace monster. Excellent work, carry on!

Glass Serpents. Because a) they’re beautiful, and b) they are an excellent illustration of people being people even in science fantasy settings, ie dumbasses who ship invasive predators all over the damn place because they look pretty. To be fair, they look/sound absolutely gorgeous, covered in crystalline iridescent scales that have excellent material properties to boot. They have fascinating mating habits, and they get points for being predators from Eox, the irradiated death world full of undead, so they’re both gorgeous and tough. They’re a heraldic symbol on Eox. So, naturally, they started getting shipped as luxury goods, both as exotic animals and to be harvested for parts. Because their scales can be used for illusion magic and optics. Because they can turn invisible. People were shipping live predatory animals that could turn invisible. Naturally, they got out, in various places. So now several other Pact Worlds have minor plagues of escaped glass serpents. Because people are dumbasses, and I love the worldbuilding for including that.

Marooned Ones. *sings giddily to myself* Space is an ocean. Space is an ocean full of nautical horror. My favourite tropes, just my favourite tropes. Marooned Ones are what they sound like. Space undead who spring from people left to die slowly on wrecked starships or derelict stations or empty asteroids. The survivors who slowly succumbed, growing ever more mad and bitter and despairing as they went. To the point that now, in undeath, they seek to inflict the same horror on others. They don’t attack living intruders willy-nilly. No. They lure them in, and then they try to get them to leave someone behind. Accidentally or on purpose. So that the Marooned One can watch a living being suffer what they suffered. Even staying near them. Even comforting them. Being friendly. But never, ever, letting them leave alive. Never letting them be rescued. And then, when the new person becomes a Marooned One themselves, they don’t band together, they just ignore each other and both wander off to lure some new poor damned bugger. You know that trope, the derelict ship squawking a distress beacon? The ship graveyard, full of abandoned and salvageable hulks? Put these guys there. Have a good time. Space/nautical horror is the bomb.

Omas. Space whales. Everybody loves space whales. Electromagnetically armoured psychic space whales, because naturally. For fun points, barathus once used omas as living starships, cheerfully hitching a ride inside their stomachs Jonah-style and telepathically sending directions for a drop-off. Then, when other races started developing biotech, and possibly with that as inspiration, people starting going in more gruesome directions. Omas give out a psychic death song when they die, heading to a gas giant in their final moments so that their bodies will be tugged down out of orbit and ‘buried’ so to speak. People started following them, using telepaths to track the song, and snagging the corpses before they could fall, so that they could make unliving ships out of the carcases. They can’t go in the Drift, because organic, so they’re realspace only ships. Because what better way to make an impression on someone than to show up in their orbit inside the militarised corpse of a space whale? It’s such a gruesome thing to do, and you know exactly why someone would do it. Heh.

Plasma Oozes. Mahoosive electromagnetic sun oozes. That’s just the best sentence. They’re just giant oozes that are generally found near the surface of stars, and they fuck shit up for everyone in their vicinity, and it’s excellent. There’s theories they have something to do with the Burning Archipelago, the ancient bubble cities in the sun, but they’re also found near other stars, so that’s possibly questionable. And, best of all, since the Drift started to be a thing, there’s been reports here or there of ships spotting an absolutely gargantuan one just bopping around in the Drift. Maybe it got sucked in when the Drift ate a bit of the Material Plane, as the Drift apparently does, and now it’s just floating around in there. Getting bigger. There’s now a whole organisation dedicated to hunting plasma oozes in general, called the Sun Killers, and I’m guessing this thing is their white whale to end all white whales. Anyone want to come into the Drift with us on a quest to kill a gigantic starship killing sun slime? Anyone? Anyone at all?

Scavenger Slimes. To finish on a continued note of oozes. These things are fantastic. Horrendous, but fantastic. I want one. It will kill my whole ship, but I want one. Scavenger slimes are basically some long-lost civilisation’s attempt at an all-fixing magic/nanotech repair gel that went horribly right. In that it gained sentience, and multiplied, and possibly overran their world. Scavenger slimes are sentient little (to not-so-little) goo piles that hitch rides on starships and into ports, and wander around building little shells for themselves out of scavenged, disassembled and reassembled scrap, the only working elements of which are the guns, because even mindless oozes feel a need to protect themselves. So. Like. You know Stabby the Roomba? It’s a little ooze in a little homemade scrap shell with a little homemade gun hoovering around your ship. Well. All right. A little six foot diameter ooze in a little shell. In the wild, they blunder around defending their scrap heaps, and disassembling priceless artefacts and treasure and technology and glueing the bits onto their shells. If baby ones get onto a starship, which parent slimes do on purpose as a seeding mechanism, they can absolutely wreck shit when they start quietly disassembling things in the background before you know they’re there, and they’re bad news, but I want one. I would see one of these things and adopt it in an instant. I would be cooing at it as my ship disintegrated around me and left me stranded and slowly turning into a Marooned One. I don’t even care. It’s adorable and anyone who raises a gun to it is gonna die by my hand. Don’t you dare touch my mindless ooze that’s currently killing us all, I love it, your honour!

Ahem. Maybe don’t leave me in charge of the starship? But they are adorable. Y’all agree with me, right?

Edit: forgot to mention, sometimes the scavenger oozes attempt to disassemble and reassemble people, which is nicely horrifying, but I’m going to set that aside because they’re still cute and I love them.

There’s some absolutely fantastic little bits of lore and worldbuilding in this game so far. I am enjoying myself, quite a bit.