Aliens Among Us–Alien Archive 4 Unveiled, Part 2

Friday, December 18, 2020

Today we continue a series sampling the Starfinder Alien Archive 4!

If you are new to Starfinder, the Alien Archives hold a trove of tools for players and GMs alike.

For players “AA4” holds a dozen races with full rules, letting you play everything from a fungus-uplifted animal to a humanoid made of magical coral. Last week we looked at the astriapi. We showcase at the copaxi below.

For GMs there are nearly 100 uncanny life-forms both classic and new, from the batlike grioth and horrifying brain collector to the vengeful endling and dreaded plasmalisk. Grafts were established in the Appendix 1: CREATING MONSTERS AND OTHER NPCS in the first Starfinder Alien Archive. They were further developed or expanded upon the subsequent Alien Archive volumes.

Now, Alien Archive 4 adds species grafts—new rules for grafting the strange physical traits of other species onto your own character, creating a staggering array of customization options!

SPECIES GRAFTS

This section introduces a new type of augmentation known as a species graft, giving you the ability to partially transcend your species by taking on the racial traits of other species. Species grafts follow the rules for augmentations (Starfinder Core Rulebook 208), in that they are installed in specific systems on your body. Once installed, they become a part of your body and generally can’t be affected by abilities that destroy or disable objects. Most of these augmentations are installed into the more common systems.

Species grafts can be cybernetics, biotech, magitech, nanite enhancements, or any other form of augmentation. A specific species graft might describe its form, but that is merely an example. Your GM might decide what a species graft looks like when you purchase one or you might determine its specifics when you craft it. This doesn’t affect how a species graft functions—only its appearance.

The benefits of a species graft don’t stack with the benefits granted by a racial trait of the same name. For example, a vesk character can’t benefit from the armor savant graft.

Read more about the new rules, how they are different from other augmentations, and see the list of over 20 species grafts in your copy of Alien Archive 4. Here are a couple of samples to entire you!

CHEEK POUCHES GRAFT — SYSTEM Throat
PRICE 3,900 — LEVEL 6

Ysoki’s cheeks are remarkably stretchy, and they use this to their advantage. Durable skin implanted in your own cheeks affords you the same benefit. You can store up to 1 cubic foot of items weighing up to 1 bulk in total in your new cheek pouches, and you can transfer a single object between hand and cheek as a swift action. You can disgorge the entire contents of your pouches onto the ground in your square as a move action that doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity.

LASHUNTA MAGIC GRAFT — SYSTEM All Hands
PRICE 3,200 — Level 5

Most lashuntas have the ability to cast minor spells, even if they haven’t formally studied spellcasting. With tiny attuned crystals or magically aligned plates in your palms, you can cast daze and psychokinetic hand at will and detect thoughts once per day as spell-like abilities. The caster level for these effects is equal to your level.

Copaxi

Copaxis evolved from copi, an unintelligent, coral-like organism that once covered their home world—the now heavily industrialized planet Tabrid Minor. Copi exhibit a supernatural attunement to the universe’s gravitational forces, and for ages, copaxis harnessed this organism’s power to create floating cities where they lived for centuries in a near-utopia.

The Signal changed copaxi society forever in 3 AG when copaxi inventors discovered how to refine copi into a semi-organic alloy suitable for constructing starships. Conflicting ideologies arose between traditionalists who clung to their people’s ancient mysticism and technological innovators who wished to explore the stars. These differences led to violence and, eventually, all-out war. The ensuing struggles toppled the established order, nearly destroyed copaxi mystical traditions, and led copaxis to abandon their flying cities in pursuit of industrialization. The newly united copaxis decimated the planet’s copi, simultaneously fueling a technological revolution while also severing their connection to the copi’s supernatural power.

Thanks to their world-spanning government’s fearful suppression of its past for decades, modern copaxis have only recently begun uncovering their planet’s history. Most admit that Tabrid Minor has suffered as a result of rapid industrialization, but few know the extent of the damage or comprehend their ancestors’ sacrificed connection to copi. Fewer still know the history of robotic life on the planet, for the government strictly monitors such technology and has instilled a superstitious fear of anything resembling a sentient machine in the populace. After Tabrid Minor began petitioning the Pact Worlds for protectorate status several years ago, the planet’s government increased its crackdown on historical introspection, fearing the world’s fraught past might undermine its chances of being accepted.

Read more about the cotopaxi in Alien Archive 4, including these racial traits:

Natural Communicator: A copaxi quickly adopts new forms of communication. Each time a copaxi gains a rank in Culture, they learn two languages rather than one language.

Regenerative Evolution: A copaxi gradually reshapes their body and neural networks to overcome new challenges. Each time a copaxi gains a level, they can retrain all the choices of one previous character level, as though they had used a mnemonic editor (Core Rulebook 226). They must have qualified for any new selections at the retrained level.

The Alien Archive 4 Authors are: Kate Baker, Tineke Bolleman, James Case, Jessica Catalan, JN Childs, Ed Chuck, John Compton, John Curtin, Adam Daigle, Katina Davis, Crystal Frasier, Leo Glass, Basheer Ghouse, Amanda Hamon, Sasha Laranoa Harving, Thurston Hillman, Joan Hong, Jenny Jarzabski, Jason Keeley, Mike Kimmel, Avi Kool, Chris Lambertz, Luis Loza, Ron Lundeen, Carmen Marin, Hilary Moon Murphy, Adrian Ng, Emily Parks, Joe Pasini, Lu Pellazar, Samantha Phelan, Jessica Redekop, James Rodehaver, Simone D. Sallé, Chris S. Sims, Kendra Leigh Speedling, Owen K.C. Stephens, and Viditya Voleti.

Next week is a two-for-one alien encounter as we look at the entu colony and entu symbiote—both are playable!

Adventures Ahead!

Aaron Shanks
Marketing and Media Manager