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Starfinder Alien Archive 4

4.80/5 (based on 4 ratings)
Starfinder Alien Archive 4
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Battle, befriend, or become more than 100 bizarre alien life forms in this all-new creature collection for the Starfinder Roleplaying Game! On countless worlds orbiting countless stars, strange and wonderful creatures await discovery. In this book, you'll find rules and background information about creatures ranging from undead androids and robot dragons to deadly laser-spined flowers and mysterious sea skeletons. Many species include rules for making your own playable alien character, from beings made of coral to animals uplifted by sapient fungus to creatures truly bizarre to behold. You'll also find plenty of new equipment and player options, including a new set of augmentations that allows your character to adopt the strange features of dozens of existing playable alien species. Explore the extraordinary with Starfinder Alien Archive 4!

Inside this book, you'll find the following:

  • Nearly 100 uncanny life-forms both classic and new, from the batlike grioth and horrifying brain collector to the vengeful endling and dreaded plasmalisk.
  • A dozen species with full player rules, letting you play everything from a fungus-uplifted animal to a humanoid made of magical coral.
  • New alien technology to help give your character an edge, including armor, weapons, magic items, and more.
  • New rules for grafting the strange physical traits of other species onto your own character, creating a staggering array of customization options!

ISBN: 978-1-64078-281-5

Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:

Hero Lab Online
Fantasy Grounds Virtual Tabletop
Roll20 Virtual Tabletop
SoundSet on Syrinscape
Archives of Nethys

Note: This product is part of the Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscription.

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4.80/5 (based on 4 ratings)

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You can see the part where they started running out of ideas

4/5 —

I think that the species-generation rules that are in Interstellar Species should have been added in AA4 instead.

5/5 —

Amazing gear for players along with the usual baddies

5/5 —

Absolutely amazing. The options for players alone make this worth buying. Ever want to duct tape another species body parts onto yours? You can do that. Want to curl up in a ball and charge people? Got the gear for that. Need to squeeze your ginormous dragon into teeny tiny rooms designed by space rats? We got something for you. Try to take experimental nanites that might help you in combat, or might turn you psychedelic color.. Oh drat I already tried those. Pink is NOT my color...

Okay wanted to write long review but...

5/5 —

...Well I don't have energy to write super detailed review and I felt like I was procrastinating writing this, so decided to get my thoughts out faster :3

I'm not sure I'm good at analyzing content themes of each alien archive so far, but I definitely love how this book 1) adds even more alien fauna to pact world planets 2) introduces new creatures related to races or creatures in previous alien archives(shimreen and animated quartz swarms) or ap articles(eohi based agathion) 3) has lot of weird playable races(I'm really impressed by writers' creativity) 4) finally brought back brain collectors and stormghosts :D (not the only old alien creatures that were brought back, but my favorite ones certainly) 5) introduces new companion animals 6) introduces new memorable villain groups/organizations.

Planashar Dominion and Lacunal monastic order are great for that purposes :D Starfinder does have lot of politically hostile to each other nations, but not yet any iconic villains. So more the merrier when it comes to villain groups ;D

But yeah long story short: I think this is genuinely my favorite alien archive book so far and that is saying something since I had almost month to think on this and I liked previous ones as well.

If I had anything to request for next book... Well I'd still love to see Tier 20 starship monster and the CR 21-24 example monsters ;D

Aaand now to the critical side. What you thought that just because I'm cutting this review shorter and giving it 5/5 that I wasn't going to point out stuff I noticed that I think need addressing for next book? Perish the thought!

So anyway, there are few times I think something slipped through edit pass to the book. The examples that I remember(since I didn't take notes because I assumed I would do the review within week of the reading the book originally x'D) are:

1) Vasporan and "Environment any sky (Old Ustavia)". "Old Ustavi" is never mentioned in Vasporan's ecology article nor can I find any info with googling, so seems like it got cut but left in the article

2) Skarak and "Skaraks are organic creatures that seem to have reached several different systems before the Gap—ostensibly traveling with the help of their strange teleportation sense."

This is only time it is mentioned so I'm confused of "wait, what strange teleportation sense?" Skaraks can teleport creatures tethered to them closer to themselves, but they can't teleport themselves and are never mentioned to have some sort of "teleportation sense" otherwise. So it feels like either some mechanic got cut or lore got cut, but the mention of it was accidentally left in.

3) corona beetle got renamed to dawn beetle ;P Okay this isn't a nitpick, I just wanted to point that out xD

4) grioths are lanky, but art for them is Goladryth who was unique unusually large and muscle heavy grioth from Dragon's Demand :D Okay this isn't nitpick either fully, just that I find it funny that despite text still calling them lean, their art has incredibly bulging muscles

5) Bit confused about how shipkiller bulb interacts with starships since its not starship monster and starships aren't really written to interact with regular monsters?

6) Starmetal eater doesn't have adamantine eater :'D It has graft for six other starmetal types, but not adamantine

And to end on positive note again, some of my favorite entries(non race entries ;3 I'm explicitly not listing them here despite liking them all. I'm also avoiding listing creatures I already mentioned liking earlier) in this archive :3 Starting here:

Carrion Wheel, Cloud Ray, Aluci/alorbidaemon, Deadfall Stalker, starship sized elementals, Endlings, Epokasite, klikharp, mordagast, murzzilat, quyo, Sapient Purple Orb, The Seen, Shipkiller Bulb(hey I didn't mention liking it earlier ;D), Skaraks(ditto), Wyspiria, Supenga and Warpstitcher ;D

P.S. Grafts and new class template grafts are cool too.

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Paizo Employee Webstore Coordinator
3 people marked this as a favorite.

Announced for November! Product image and description are not final and may be subject to change.

Yay for uplifting fungi and coral creatures.
Wayfinders
4 people marked this as a favorite.

ROBOT DRAGONS!

Low-key hope there's kobolds in there too...We've been waiting so long...
Dark Archive
5 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Oh hey that is a copaxi :D Nice
Advocates
4 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

My children! Be freeeeee
Scarab Sages
3 people marked this as a favorite.

Aw yiss my creature will be free!
Paizo Employee Contributor, RPG Superstar 2014 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
4 people marked this as a favorite.

Containment protocol breach! Aliens on the loose!
Dark Archive
2 people marked this as a favorite.

And i'm out.

I havn't even read Alien Archive 3 fully, nor did we play anything beyond the introductory adventure, "Dead Suns" & the first Skittermander adventure.

I did buy SF APs #1-#24 though and will continue to buy them until #33.
6 people marked this as a favorite.

I am so excited for robot dragons!

Yay, I can't wait!
3 people marked this as a favorite.
Starfinder Superscriber
Marco Massoudi wrote:

And i'm out.

I havn't even read Alien Archive 3 fully, nor did we play anything beyond the introductory adventure, "Dead Suns" & the first Skittermander adventure.

I did buy SF APs #1-#24 though and will continue to buy them until #33.

I have so many questions about this post and what it's doing here.

Dark Archive
2 people marked this as a favorite.
Leon Aquilla wrote:
Marco Massoudi wrote:

And i'm out.

I havn't even read Alien Archive 3 fully, nor did we play anything beyond the introductory adventure, "Dead Suns" & the first Skittermander adventure.

I did buy SF APs #1-#24 though and will continue to buy them until #33.

I have so many questions about this post and what it's doing here.

Ask away.

Basically i said that i don't need a Alien Archive 4, as 3 volumes (and the Alien Archives sections in the AP volumes) are more than enough for me.

We played Starfinder and liked it, we also played Pathfinder second Edition and didn't like it and we played Pathfinder 1e and still love it.
Unfortunately due to covid-19 it's impossible to meet in person for the next months and i do not need a 4th Alien Archive in my life.

Stay safe and stay home, everybody.
Silver Crusade
12 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Well, you can play online, just like most of pandemic-hit people do. And you're in a really tiny minority of people who think 3 bestiaries are enough ;)
7 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

I can never have enough monsters to throw at my players.

Besides, each Alien Archive includes playable species.
1 person marked this as a favorite.

I really, really hope we get a Bestiary-sized Alien Archive one day.
Exo-Guardians
3 people marked this as a favorite.
Owen KC Stephens wrote:
I am so excited for robot dragons!

OWEN OF STEPHENS, DRAGON ROBOTS ARE ALREADY AMONG YOU. HAVE YOU BEEN EXCITED THIS WHOLE TIME?

Grand Lodge
7 people marked this as a favorite.

Ooh, I cannot wait for people to see the ADORABLE creature that I built for this. Everyone is going to want one! HYYYYYYPE!
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Hmm wrote:
Ooh, I cannot wait for people to see the ADORABLE creature that I built for this. Everyone is going to want one! HYYYYYYPE!

!!!!!

Acquisitives
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Just got near space, and the art for the commando has prompted me to build one of those squid characters Alien Archive 3 as a backup. We'll see what joys book 4 has.

Please, no camel people.

I play a copaxi solarian in organized play, and they are super fun. Maybe more people will opt in for the copaxi with this volume in hand.
1 person marked this as a favorite.

We already have camel people, the Dromada.
5 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

I'm very excited for the [redacted] lil critter I did in here!
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

Fingers crossed for kaymos.
3 people marked this as a favorite.
Marco Massoudi wrote:


We played Starfinder and liked it, we also played Pathfinder second Edition and didn't like it and we played Pathfinder 1e and still love it.
Unfortunately due to covid-19 it's impossible to meet in person for the next months and i do not need a 4th Alien Archive in my life.

We also liked Starfinder ok and PF2 not-at-all, while continuing to love (love love) PF1. But I’m all-in on Starfinder books, especially the bestiaries, which I have been stealing liberally from and converting for my home PF1 campaign — an epic, sword-and-planet adventure with plenty of elf gates leading to new worlds. ;)

Dark Archive
2 people marked this as a favorite.
RicoDetroit wrote:
Marco Massoudi wrote:


We played Starfinder and liked it, we also played Pathfinder second Edition and didn't like it and we played Pathfinder 1e and still love it.
Unfortunately due to covid-19 it's impossible to meet in person for the next months and i do not need a 4th Alien Archive in my life.
We also liked Starfinder ok and PF2 not-at-all, while continuing to love (love love) PF1. But I’m all-in on Starfinder books, especially the bestiaries, which I have been stealing liberally from and converting for my home PF1 campaign — an epic, sword-and-planet adventure with plenty of elf gates leading to new worlds. ;)

Nice!

I like the SF lore better than the game mechanics, i really like the creatures updated from PF 1e to SF, cool to see you are reverse-engineering the SF creatures to PF. :-)

I vastly prefer Pathfinder 1e to every other rpg ever, D&D 3.5 being a close second and Call of Cthulhu on third place (no matter what rules set).

Unfortunately we had to pause our Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign due to Corona virus restrictions.

My local FLGS also closed last week and with Alliances Games Distributions closing as of today, no new rpg products will reach me (and a lot of players worldwide) for months to come. ;-(
4 people marked this as a favorite.

I love all three.

Pathfinder Classic, Starfinder, and Pathfinder 2 are all super fun.
Scarab Sages
3 people marked this as a favorite.
RicoDetroit wrote:
Marco Massoudi wrote:


We played Starfinder and liked it, we also played Pathfinder second Edition and didn't like it and we played Pathfinder 1e and still love it.
Unfortunately due to covid-19 it's impossible to meet in person for the next months and i do not need a 4th Alien Archive in my life.
We also liked Starfinder ok and PF2 not-at-all, while continuing to love (love love) PF1. But I’m all-in on Starfinder books, especially the bestiaries, which I have been stealing liberally from and converting for my home PF1 campaign — an epic, sword-and-planet adventure with plenty of elf gates leading to new worlds. ;)

that is a really cool idea!

2 people marked this as a favorite.

Super excited for this! I am curious if the're going to release the class grafts for the three COM classes here. :)
Paizo Employee Starfinder Lead Designer
11 people marked this as a favorite.
Sparrowhawk_92 wrote:
Super excited for this! I am curious if the're going to release the class grafts for the three COM classes here. :)

We sure are!

Grand Lodge

Woooooot!
2 people marked this as a favorite.
Marco Massoudi wrote:
Leon Aquilla wrote:
Marco Massoudi wrote:

And i'm out.

I havn't even read Alien Archive 3 fully, nor did we play anything beyond the introductory adventure, "Dead Suns" & the first Skittermander adventure.

I did buy SF APs #1-#24 though and will continue to buy them until #33.

I have so many questions about this post and what it's doing here.

Ask away.

Basically i said that i don't need a Alien Archive 4, as 3 volumes (and the Alien Archives sections in the AP volumes) are more than enough for me.

We played Starfinder and liked it, we also played Pathfinder second Edition and didn't like it and we played Pathfinder 1e and still love it.
Unfortunately due to covid-19 it's impossible to meet in person for the next months and i do not need a 4th Alien Archive in my life.

Stay safe and stay home, everybody.

Strange how peoples paths to what they enjoy in a rpg differs so much. I liked 3.5 but it got too bloated with books, still though I loved it. Then I as not interested in Pathfinder as I thought it as just D&D 3.75. I went and tried D&D 4E, had a lot of fun but it got stale , and 4E FORGOTTEN REALMS was odd, and I did not like it.

In any case, played D&D 5E and really liked it a lot. Then came across Starfinder and was so impressed, that I got Pathfinder 2 which is my favorite game. I tried Pathfinder 1, but it never drew me in, but Pathfinder 2 has big time.

In any case, it could all have traveled down a different path for me.

Last thing,I am one of those people who loves trying different games and editions. I will jump to play any edition of most RPG games if I gel with the group and get to have a cool evening with a group of nice people, and get good memories and stories.

So presently my fave games are
Pathfinder 2
Starfinder
D&D 5E

Hymothoas are not adorable, and are in fact rather despicable. Nonetheless: I think I need stats for them, yesterday.
1 person marked this as a favorite.
General Orc wrote:
Marco Massoudi wrote:
Leon Aquilla wrote:
Marco Massoudi wrote:

And i'm out.

I havn't even read Alien Archive 3 fully, nor did we play anything beyond the introductory adventure, "Dead Suns" & the first Skittermander adventure.

I did buy SF APs #1-#24 though and will continue to buy them until #33.

I have so many questions about this post and what it's doing here.

Ask away.

Basically i said that i don't need a Alien Archive 4, as 3 volumes (and the Alien Archives sections in the AP volumes) are more than enough for me.

We played Starfinder and liked it, we also played Pathfinder second Edition and didn't like it and we played Pathfinder 1e and still love it.
Unfortunately due to covid-19 it's impossible to meet in person for the next months and i do not need a 4th Alien Archive in my life.

Stay safe and stay home, everybody.

Strange how peoples paths to what they enjoy in a rpg differs so much. I liked 3.5 but it got too bloated with books, still though I loved it. Then I as not interested in Pathfinder as I thought it as just D&D 3.75. I went and tried D&D 4E, had a lot of fun but it got stale , and 4E FORGOTTEN REALMS was odd, and I did not like it.

In any case, played D&D 5E and really liked it a lot. Then came across Starfinder and was so impressed, that I got Pathfinder 2 which is my favorite game. I tried Pathfinder 1, but it never drew me in, but Pathfinder 2 has big time.

In any case, it could all have traveled down a different path for me.

Last thing,I am one of those people who loves trying different games and editions. I will jump to play any edition of most RPG games if I gel with the group and get to have a cool evening with a group of nice people, and get good memories and stories.

So presently my fave games are
Pathfinder 2
Starfinder
D&D 5E

Pathfinder 2 has the absolute best ruleset of the three. It never ceases to amaze me how well crafted it is. Starfinder is my favourite game overall mainly because of it's spectacular setting, flavour and gameplay variety.

Pathfinder 1 is in the past, it was my favourite, I have no need to be sentimentally attached to it.
D&D 5 is a very good generic system easy and basic. I personally don't need it.
Joe Pasini wrote:
Sparrowhawk_92 wrote:
Super excited for this! I am curious if the're going to release the class grafts for the three COM classes here. :)
We sure are!

Awesome! That's what I was hoping to hear! thank you.

Also, I never thought I would need a fourth alien archive, but after using all three, well yes. I do! Bring it on! :D

I sure hope we get Ogres this time around.
Dark Archive
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

How would ogres go into space anyway?

No seriously, would they have become space hillbillies, grown past the incest and malicious stupidity or have been uplifted? :D
2 people marked this as a favorite.
Zalibraxis, Dragonbot wrote:
Owen KC Stephens wrote:
I am so excited for robot dragons!
OWEN OF STEPHENS, DRAGON ROBOTS ARE ALREADY AMONG YOU. HAVE YOU BEEN EXCITED THIS WHOLE TIME?

I am imagining a Tome that is 3 feet thick. Starfinder Alien Archive ideas are limitless. I'd 100% buy it too!

Paizo Employee Contributor, RPG Superstar 2014 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
Yakman wrote:
I play a copaxi solarian in organized play, and they are super fun. Maybe more people will opt in for the copaxi with this volume in hand.

Yay!

2 people marked this as a favorite.

Copaxi always remind me of warframe.
Silver Crusade
1 person marked this as a favorite.
CorvusMask wrote:

How would ogres go into space anyway?

No seriously, would they have become space hillbillies, grown past the incest and malicious stupidity or have been uplifted? :D

Or been brought along by another being wanting to make use of their theoretically easy to control stupidity as dumb muscle, either directly as agents or as indirect hazards for anyone going against the person who brought them. I can see a LE group, before the disappearance of Golarion, importing ogres near a new colony and then negotiating a protection contract with the colony.

Alternatively, there is the ever-popular cloning story, someone cloned ogres from ancient genetic material, they overthrew their maker and overran the colony/world. A smarter than average ogre stopped the destruction from being complete, so that they could institute a breeding program to give them an underclass of half-ogres capable of piloting the remaining star ships, allowing the ogres to take to the stars as an ill-defined "nation" of pirates and raiders.
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Lamashtu did it.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

We know ettins made it off world, so who knows.

(Personally, the fact that most monstrous races have divine or demonic patrons looking out for them helps paper over a lot of "How did they escape/spread from Golarion?" mysteries.)
Dark Archive
Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Now that starship operation manual has confirmed tier 20 being the max starship monster tier, I wanna see example of tier 20 starship doom beast :3
Paizo Employee Webstore Coordinator

Update: This product has been moved to a December release.

That is disheartening.

Well, I'll say this for the delay: it made an easy decision for where I'm putting in my pre-order. I like to order my books through one of the local shops, but an impending move made it uncertain whether I should put down the AA.4 in one place or another. December removed all uncertainty, there.
Katina Davis wrote:
Update: This product has been moved to a December release.

Aw yeah, I know what I'm getting myself for secret Santa!

Paizo Employee Webstore Coordinator
14 people marked this as a favorite.
captain yesterday wrote:
Katina Davis wrote:
Update: This product has been moved to a December release.
Aw yeah, I know what I'm getting myself for secret Santa!

*excitedly tearing wrapping off gift*

"Gasp! This is just what I wanted! Who could have gotten this for me?"
*checks tag*
"Awwww. Of course, I should have known! Thanks, me. You know me so well."
Marco Massoudi wrote:
Leon Aquilla wrote:
Marco Massoudi wrote:

And i'm out.

I havn't even read Alien Archive 3 fully, nor did we play anything beyond the introductory adventure, "Dead Suns" & the first Skittermander adventure.

I did buy SF APs #1-#24 though and will continue to buy them until #33.

I have so many questions about this post and what it's doing here.

Ask away.

Basically i said that i don't need a Alien Archive 4, as 3 volumes (and the Alien Archives sections in the AP volumes) are more than enough for me.

We played Starfinder and liked it, we also played Pathfinder second Edition and didn't like it and we played Pathfinder 1e and still love it.
Unfortunately due to covid-19 it's impossible to meet in person for the next months and i do not need a 4th Alien Archive in my life.

Stay safe and stay home, everybody.

You need Fantasy Grounds in your life.

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Katina Davis wrote:
Update: This product has been moved to a December release.

Glares at 2020. Given how weird this year has been the fact you guys have been mostly on time is kind of amazing. Just keep plugging away it will be ready when it is ready.

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Not having this book is destroying me, anyone got a hold of it that can give me their thoughts? Any fun/interesting monsters?
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