Starfinder Alien Archive 2

So what's the deal with the aliens designed for starship combat?

Can anyone provide tier and types or descriptions?

Ooh… Waiting for the 17th to roll around so I can check out the new playable races!

To anybody who has the book, I'm just curious if there's any cool player option you like in particular, apart from the races?

Are there any dragons in this book? (Creatures of the Dragon type, not just true dragons)

Are there any dragons in this book? (Creatures of the Dragon type, not just true dragons)

I only see metalic and outer dragons.

I should learn to multi quote..for ship creatures..the space ameoba looks cool - Tier 7 stellar protozoa.

Haven't compaired the stats but the new anacite power armor looks cool, (edit looks like you lose 1 kac for some perks). I am also trying to grok polymorph.

So what's the deal with the aliens designed for starship combat?

Can anyone provide tier and types or descriptions?

Opsylum wrote:

Man, as far as flavor goes, I am really loving this book. I'm only a little way through so far, but this book has really made Starfinder's universe as unique and fantastic as any book before. I was actually worried I might not enjoy this book as much as the first Alien Archive, but it's clear Paizo really put some heart into this. ** spoiler omitted **

And I'm not even halfway through this book. Seriously Paizo team. Thank you for this. This book is amazing.

So glad you're enjoying it! Thanks for letting us know =)

You might want to keep an eye out for an upcoming blog; as Amanda mentioned, we'll have several Paizo authors talking about the inspiration behind some of the playable species we created—several of which you mentioned!

** spoiler omitted **

Yippee! Can't wait for the blog post! You people really outdid yourselves with this book. Nearly finished with it, and I've gotta say - I think I might be enjoying it even more than the first. Really brings the Pact Worlds and beyond to life for me. Thanks so much, Joe!

If not Operative Thief, probably an Envoy - definitely Icon - as "Boo-Boo's" probably going to be a socially maladjusted holovid celebrity. After migrating to Absalom Station from a jungle resort for retired bears, Boo-Boo took a liking to a Steve Irwin inspired Castrovellian nature show, and decided to try his paws at his own. While Absalom has a lot less wildlife than his old home planet had, he did notice picnic basket culture had developed a strangely wild nature of its own, from their artful weaves to the exotic scents found within, and Boo-Boo decided to capture the spirit of these graceful creatures in an ongoing amateur holovid series of his own. Naturally, his entire childhood in a resort occupied only by bears didn't quite prepare Boo-Boo for Absalom's much more punctilious culture which appeared zealously territorial about its picnic baskets. But after a slew of his unintentially hilarious "wildlife" shows became viral on Absalom's infosphere, Boo-Boo has become something of a local celebrity, with locals intentionally decorating up picnic baskets and leaving them in conspicuous public places, hoping for Boo-Boo to capture a piece on it "in its natural habitat." For his part, anytime Boo-Boo can't help himself but to sample the contents inside, he always leaves something equally valuable in its place. Usually trout.

Yup. That's what I'm playing next. Only in Starfinder, folks.

What kind of abilities do outer dragons have? Considering the answers to my last question, it sounds like outer dragons have no ability to participate in starship combat, which is rather disappointing =/

What kind of abilities do outer dragons have? Considering the answers to my last question, it sounds like outer dragons have no ability to participate in starship combat, which is rather disappointing =/

That is one thing I'd like to see support for, because dragons fighting starships just sounds awesome. Especially when we are talking about dragons that actually call outer space their home in the first place. Maybe we can get some guidelines for converting alien creatures into starships in a future starship book? Would love to see a little more fleshing out of starship vs combatant/structure rules, boarding, and ramming. Looking at the ship glitch gremlin, it occurred to me it would be really fun to have Shadowrun matrix & meatspace style combat, with a few players piloting the starship and fighting one map, and other players fighting boarded enemies inside the starship on another map, running back and forth between stations to provide support where needed.

Any animals in this book?

Any animals in this book?

Troodos wrote:

Any animals in this book?

** spoiler omitted **

Regarding the starship critters?

I figured as much. Yeah, it's really disappointing that outer dragons are basically just another type of dragon with slight differences. I mean, the first thing I imagine most people would think of when it comes to encountering a dragon in starship combat are outer dragons.

I have to say, if it's because making a type of dragon that you can encounter on both ground and starship combat is some sort of "realism" issue that breaks verisimilitude, honestly, get over it. This game doesn't even try to be realistic, as it's even less realistic than Pathfinder. Plus, you already made a creature of this style in the first archive (Endbringer Devil), and most people really liked the monster.

If this for the sake of page count, then I don't know what to say, other than maybe you shouldn't have included outer dragons at all if this is how they are going to be made. They are space dragons for Christ's sake, make them do space stuff! They can't even interact with other creatures that are made for space, what kind of nonsense is that?

Sorry for the rant. I got a little sour from this.

That is one thing I'd like to see support for, because dragons fighting starships just sounds awesome. Especially when we are talking about dragons that actually call outer space their home in the first place. Maybe we can get some guidelines for converting alien creatures into starships in a future starship book? Would love to see a little more fleshing out of starship vs combatant/structure rules, boarding, and ramming. Looking at the ship glitch gremlin, it occurred to me it would be really fun to have Shadowrun matrix & meatspace style combat, with a few players piloting the starship and fighting one map, and other players fighting boarded enemies inside the starship on another map, running back and forth between stations to provide support where needed.

** spoiler omitted **

Thanks for the response and checking for me.

Making conversions for creatures for starship combat would be cool. However, since they didn't bother to make outer dragons with this capability, that tells me they are never going to make another monster with both combat modes again.

I figured as much. Yeah, it's really disappointing that outer dragons are basically just another type of dragon with slight differences.

I have to say, if it's because making a type of dragon that you can encounter on both ground and starship combat is some sort of "realism" issue that breaks verisimilitude, honestly, get over it. This game doesn't even try to be realistic, as it's even less realistic than Pathfinder. Plus, you already made a creature of this style in the first archive (Endbringer Devil), and most people really liked the monster.

If this for the sake of page count, then I don't know what to say, other than maybe you shouldn't have included outer dragons at all if this is how they are going to be made.

They are space dragons for Christ's sake, make them do space stuff! They can't even interact with other creatures that are made for space, what kind of nonsense is that?

They can interact with other creatures that are made for space and have space stuff, they just can't fight Spaceships.

I just want to say that I don't have any intention of derailing the thread into something else. I just had to get that off my chest.

The Endbringer is literally the same monster, the same composition, just in a different shape. It doesn't power down when fighting PCs, and implications for such in its fluff and description do not exist. That doesn't make sense.

I'm aware that outer dragons are from bestiary 4. I've been following the game for almost a decade.

If a dragon, or anything for that matter, is too tough for the PCs to fight, then that's what a high CR means. The Endbringer doesn't have a CR of 19 for no reason... This also didn't stop them from making flying battle cruisers the size of a huge starship in the Armory that PCs can fight. A little consistency would be nice.

Troodos wrote:

Any animals in this book?

** spoiler omitted **

Are there many undead in this book? Because ATM it kinda feels like the game is overloaded with undead.

I just want to say that I don't have any intention of derailing the thread into something else. I just had to get that off my chest.

The Endbringer is literally the same monster, the same composition, just in a different shape. It doesn't power down when fighting PCs, and implications for such in its fluff and description do not exist. That doesn't make sense.

I'm aware that outer dragons are from bestiary 4. I've been following the game for almost a decade.

If a dragon, or anything for that matter, is too tough for the PCs to fight, then that's what a high CR means. The Endbringer doesn't have a CR of 19 for no reason... This also didn't stop them from making flying battle cruisers the size of a huge starship in the Armory that PCs can fight. A little consistency would be nice.

I think part of the problem is that starships also just really change the dynamic of power in the Pathfinder universe. Taking the rules as they are (starship weapons do 10x damage to combatants), small ships could pose a substantial threat to even the strongest dragon. There wouldn't normally be much of a fight, especially if starship armor works the same way (damage from combatants equals 1/10 dmg). It'd be hard to give dragons that epic feel of raw, unstoppable power if you could just call in a starship and bury it underneath a few well-placed nukes. So the best way to resolve the situation is to make starships vs dragons an exception to regular combat arrangements, rather than a norm. Which is why it would best be covered as a supplementary rule, rather than core. I imagine dragons might take precautions of their own to make starship engagements more competitive, perhaps by decking themselves out in special armor that can brave starship weaponry and deal comparable damage in return? Would be cool to see, I think.

As far as the Endbringer thing goes, I'm not sure it's important that Paizo specifies why they are weaker when landed, just that they are. Any number of possible reasons can be developed by the GM for this, and depending on the type of campaign being run, an explanation need not even be offered at all. It would be cool to know, but I don't see why it would be necessary. Good thoughts though. Maybe a dev might shed some light?

Opsylum wrote:

Troodos wrote:

Any animals in this book?

** spoiler omitted **

** spoiler omitted **

Sauce987654321 wrote:

I just want to say that I don't have any intention of derailing the thread into something else. I just had to get that off my chest.

The Endbringer is literally the same monster, the same composition, just in a different shape. It doesn't power down when fighting PCs, and implications for such in its fluff and description do not exist. That doesn't make sense.

I'm aware that outer dragons are from bestiary 4. I've been following the game for almost a decade.

If a dragon, or anything for that matter, is too tough for the PCs to fight, then that's what a high CR means. The Endbringer doesn't have a CR of 19 for no reason... This also didn't stop them from making flying battle cruisers the size of a huge starship in the Armory that PCs can fight. A little consistency would be nice.

I think part of the problem is that starships also just really change the dynamic of power in the Pathfinder universe. Taking the rules as they are (starship weapons do 10x damage to combatants), the tiniest ship could pose a huge threat to even the strongest dragon. There wouldn't normally be much of a fight, especially if starship armor works the same way (damage from combatants equals 1/10 dmg). It'd be hard to give dragons that epic feel of raw, unstoppable power if you could just call in a starship and bury it underneath a few well-placed nukes. So the best way to resolve the situation is to make starships vs dragons an exception to regular combat arrangements, rather than a norm. Which is why it would best be covered as a supplementary rule, rather than core. I imagine dragons might take precautions of their own to make starship engagements more competitive, perhaps by decking themselves out in special armor that can brave starship weaponry and deal comparable damage in return? Would be cool to see, I think.

As far as the Endbringer thing goes, I'm not sure it's important that Paizo specifies why they are weaker when landed, just that...

The whole x10 is just a game mechanic that the game doesn't allow you to use on creatures, only structures. It says it works on monsters, but deliberately contradicts itself and forces the player or whomever is using the starship to use hazards as your form of damage. You can't fly over a bunch of enemies and nuke them for an instant kill, it still has to do a reasonable amount of damage, while not benefiting from the x10 bonus.

Back to the Endbringer, again... I was saying that it doesn't get weaker, it just changes shape, and that's it. The game states that it's using no forms of starship systems and is equally capable of engaging in melee and starship combat. We're getting this silly idea that it gets weaker on ground because of the x10 rule that's mentioned. We're confusing gameplay mechanics for fluff. All it is, is just changing from one rule set to another. As a CR 19, it can get attacked repeatedly by cannons from hovertanks, missiles from assault fighters, and receive 0 damage, as if it were from a Godzilla movie. A CR 25 great wyrm can body 4 of these things at once, to put it into perspective.

To use another example of a space monster, look at the Oma. It's described as being able to devour small starships and can disable most ship's powercores with its electrical discharge. It also has a medium frame, since in Pathfinder, the Oma is known for being used as living starships, that starts at 85hp (notice how the Oma doesn't have 850 health in it's normal stats). So, yes, even these "space" dragons can't even interact with an Oma in starship combat, or an Endbringer, or any creature with a tier.

With all of this considered, I'm definitely hard balling the devs for that one. That's not how space dragons should be made in a game like this.

I would love to see what Starfinder vampires are like.

The whole x10 is just a game mechanic that the game doesn't allow you to use on creatures, only structures. It says it works on monsters, but deliberately contradicts itself and forces the player or whomever is using the starship to use hazards as your form of damage. You can't fly over a bunch of enemies and nuke them for an instant kill, it still has to do a reasonable amount of damage, while not benefiting from the x10 bonus.

This is not correct. Here are the rules in the Core Rulebook, as follows. Relevant sections are bolded.

Starship weapons and regular PC-level weapons work on different scales and aren’t meant to interact with each other. If characters choose to shoot at a starship with their laser rifles (or cast a spell on it) while it is on the ground, the GM should treat the starship as an object (a particularly massive one, at that). At the GM’s discretion, if starship weapons are ever brought to bear against buildings or people, they deal Hit Point damage equal to 10 × their listed amount of damage. However, starship weapons are never precise enough to target a single individual (or even small group) and can, if the GM decides, be simulated as deadly hazards instead of weapon attacks.

Starship weapons and regular PC-level weapons work on different scales and aren’t meant to interact with each other. If characters choose to shoot at a starship with their laser rifles (or cast a spell on it) while it is on the ground, the GM should treat the starship as an object (a particularly massive one, at that). At the GM’s discretion, if starship weapons are ever brought to bear against buildings or people, they deal Hit Point damage equal to 10 × their listed amount of damage. However, starship weapons are never precise enough to target a single individual (or even small group) and can, if the GM decides, be simulated as deadly hazards instead of weapon attacks.

FTFY. You can't get x10 damage if you're not allowed to target people, are you?

FTFY. You can't get x10 damage if you're not allowed to target people, are you?

I mean, I guess you can interpret it that way. The implication in this text seems to me that a starship would simply be eyeballing its shots rather than trying to target a PC like it would another starship. The book specifically details the amount of damage starship attacks do to PCs, so I don’t see the implication that they can’t flat out connect at all. Especially because the “deadly hazard” rules were suggested as alternative rules, rather than standard.

Anyway, connecting this back to Alien Archives, would love to see starship conversion rules/guidelines for aliens in future supplements, if not in a Starship book.

I mean, I guess you can interpret it that way. The implication in this text seems to me that a starship would simply be eyeballing its shots rather than trying to target a PC. The book specifically details the amount of damage starship attacks do, so I don’t see the implication that they can’t flat out connect at all. Especially because the “deadly hazard” rules were suggested as alternative rules, rather than standard.

Deadly hazards do damage and is pretty much their only function. They just do much less. It's not that you can't connect your shots, this is a balance mechanism. You can use your starship weapons to destroy buildings, but the game doesn't allow you to inflict the same damage on creatures.

Anyway, connecting this back to Alien Archives, would love to see starship conversion rules/guidelines for aliens in future supplements, if not in a Starship book.

I'd love to, as well. After reading about those outer dragons, though, it doesn't bode well. I'm positive that it will never happen. It's likely they think people don't care enough about them, so I can't see them dedicating a whole section to such conversions in a new book. Let's cross our fingers, I guess, lol..

Which dinosaurs get the illustration(s)? Are they accurate?

How many monsters are there in total?

Do they each get exactly two pages, as per AA1?

Which dinosaurs get the illustration(s)? Are they accurate?

The illustrations aren't of traditional dinosaurs so much. The dinosaur statblocks are for generic prehistoric creatures from any planet, so the illustrations are of alien dinosaurs instead of Earth/Golarion dinosaurs. It's similar to the herd animal and predator stat groups.

How many monsters are there in total?

Do they each get exactly two pages, as per AA1?

** spoiler omitted **

What would be the monster count for each type if PC races and reprinted monsters are excluded?

Opsylum wrote:

** spoiler omitted **

What would be the monster count for each type if PC races and reprinted monsters are excluded?

Can anyone let us know how many new augmentations there are in the book, and maybe some favorites? Im sure there aren't a ton but augmentations are my fave

OMG I LOVE THE THERAPY DOGGOS!!!

OMG I LOVE THE THERAPY DOGGOS!!!

Please explain

Rysky the Dark Solarion wrote:

OMG I LOVE THE THERAPY DOGGOS!!!

Please explain

(still reading but) The Vlaka are very perceptive to other’s emotional states and well being, and while alll their stuff is awesome and meshes well with my playstyle the main draw for them most likely is the fact THAT THEY CAN GIVE THEIR RESOLVE POINTS TO THEIR ALLIES.

Troodos wrote:

Which dinosaurs get the illustration(s)? Are they accurate?

The illustrations aren't of traditional dinosaurs so much. The dinosaur statblocks are for generic prehistoric creatures from any planet, so the illustrations are of alien dinosaurs instead of Earth/Golarion dinosaurs. It's similar to the herd animal and predator stat groups.

That's pretty cool, guess I'm gonna doodle some alien dinosaur designs then.

Do they have any cool lore or abilities mentioned?

Also what are the fey in the book?

I'm legitimately dumbfounded that the Ghorans actually made it in. Dumbfounded, but very happy.

I'm legitimately dumbfounded that the Ghorans actually made it in. Dumbfounded, but very happy.

They're the perfect crewmembers to have when you're adrift in space and run out of food!

Sounds like quite the toolbox and I can hardly wait to read it. Even if that means I have to make do with the PDF until I get the book in the mail.

Nighthorror888 wrote:

I'm legitimately dumbfounded that the Ghorans actually made it in. Dumbfounded, but very happy.

They're the perfect crewmembers to have when you're adrift in space and run out of food!

You see, THIS is why they went ahead and colonized Ghorus Prime! A Gap of jokes like this! :P

Also, several comments about things I didn't work on.

1) The new polymorphing rules are sick.

2) Whomever ordered the art of Quid getting baleful polymorphed into a rat is the best kind of genius. Props!

Anything related to the Dominion of the Black or Aucturn?

Don't believe so but I'd have to double check.

Got the pdf now, thank you to the folks at Paizo I am not eagerly awaiting my copy to make its way through the mail to my grubby paws. I think the stat adjustment on Intelligence and Wisdom should be reversed for PCs but otherwise I would love to play an uplifted bear, especially in Stafinder Society. I was also pleasantly surprised for the canine species I saw many moons ago on YouTube and that I also want to play as soon as I can in SFS. I do not wish to spoil anything for everyone but I am most satisfied with what I see so far. I have choice words for whomever gave this two stars but for the sake of civility I shan't speak them here.

Just got my hardcover book last night, new race choices, new equipment and, now I finally know what that six legged white creature and four eyes is that is found in the back of the core rulebook.

Can anyone answer what the fey in the book are?

Can anyone answer what the fey in the book are?

Two glitch gremlins; the calecor, a fey embodiment of planet-scale disasters; and star-dwelling, humanoid/grasshoper ravais.

Can anyone let us know how many new augmentations there are in the book, and maybe some favorites? Im sure there aren't a ton but augmentations are my fave

There are about half a dozen new augmentations. My fave is glass skin (from the glass serpent entry), which makes you shimmer like a rainbow and turn invisible sometimes! I imagine the several tashtari (laser wolf) augmentations will also be popular choices...

I imagine the several tashtari (laser wolf) augmentations will also be popular choices...

Oh man, we can augment ourselves into the butcher from Fiddler on the Roof?! Nice!