Core Races

[Dragon78]

I hope there will be more then 7 core races, like 10 or even 12.

We know that humans, ratfolk, lashunta, and androids will be core.

I would like to add..

catfolk
triaxian
vercite
Kalo
Maraquoi
Urog
Arkanen race(humanoid or centaur-like)
Insect based race(small)

I hope that the red skinned humans of Akiton have some differences in stats then standard humans.

Trox and Kasatha would be too powerful.

Reptoids would make a good villain race.

[Torbyne]

I am fine with a smaller number of established core species but adding more racial customization along the lines of selective gene moding or the same species having different standards depending on if their branch comes from a spacer colony or the many different worlds that are options.

[JoelF847]

I want at least two core races we've never heard of before.

And it would be cool to have one that was an ooze or gas or something very far from humanoid in form.

[Dragon78]

So what would be you guy's 7-12 core races be?

If I had to pic just 7 they would be human, android, ratfolk, lashunta, catfolk, vercite, and trixian.

[Michael Monn]

I want space goblins as core.

[Odraude]

I really want a creature with an altogether different biochemistry make up. I want to see how an ammonia or silicon based lifeform would work out in a party.

[Wei Ji the Learner]

Some sort of avian/bird analogue and..

homage to a certain April Fool's Joke

Space minotaurs...

[RainyDayNinja]

Odraude wrote:

I really want a creature with an altogether different biochemistry make up. I want to see how an ammonia or silicon based lifeform would work out in a party.

An ammonia-based lifeform would need a constant life bubble up (or, you know, a space suit), since water vapor in the air would be acidic from its perspective.

[David knott 242]

There will definitely have to be some sort of adjustment made to handle races of different power levels. Androids are definitely considered to be a more powerful race than Ratfolk in standard Pathfinder, and both are confirmed as core races in Starfinder.

I also think we can rule out the following races:

Catfolk: They are only mentioned as living on Golarion, so why would they be more prevalent that elves, who are already confirmed as a non-core race?

Kalo: As a non-amphibious aquatic race, they are definitely ill-suited to adventuring with non-aquatic races.

I would also put forth Aballonian constructs as the most likely proposed non-humanoid form race, as I suspect that simply having extra arms (Kasatha, Shobhad) or extra legs (Formian) is not that big a departure from the humanoid form.

[David knott 242]

RainyDayNinja wrote:

Odraude wrote:

I really want a creature with an altogether different biochemistry make up. I want to see how an ammonia or silicon based lifeform would work out in a party.

An ammonia-based lifeform would need a constant life bubble up (or, you know, a space suit), since water vapor in the air would be acidic from its perspective.

Agreed. I think we can rule out as core races any races that cannot function without special equipment in relatively dry spaces that are filled with air that humans can breathe. A race that does not have to breathe at all is fine, but a race that cannot breathe air that is breathable by humans would face too many problems.

[Odraude]

RainyDayNinja wrote:

Odraude wrote:

I really want a creature with an altogether different biochemistry make up. I want to see how an ammonia or silicon based lifeform would work out in a party.

An ammonia-based lifeform would need a constant life bubble up (or, you know, a space suit), since water vapor in the air would be acidic from its perspective.

I kinda of like that though. The space suit wouldn't be too far of a stretch, and it adds a bit of a danger if the suit has a malfunction.

While ammonia might be a bit tough, silicon based lifeforms would be more doable without a special suit.

I also want a non-humanoid alien in the game. having blue humans with forehead ridges is fine, but I'd like one to be really crazy. Amoeba aliens or octopi aliens or something just really different. A creature made out of electromagnetism that makes a body out of metal and eats radiation.

[Dale McCoy Jr]

Can I help develop them?!?

[RainyDayNinja]

Odraude wrote:

RainyDayNinja wrote:

Odraude wrote:

I really want a creature with an altogether different biochemistry make up. I want to see how an ammonia or silicon based lifeform would work out in a party.

An ammonia-based lifeform would need a constant life bubble up (or, you know, a space suit), since water vapor in the air would be acidic from its perspective.

I kinda of like that though. The space suit wouldn't be too far of a stretch, and it adds a bit of a danger if the suit has a malfunction.

I actually wrote a short medical mystery novel with an ammonia-based lifeform as a patient. They used sulfur (which is surprisingly soluble in ammonia!) for respiration instead of oxygen, and so didn't actually need to breath. Tissue was polythiazyl-based instead of carbon-based.

[Air0r]

Odraude wrote:

A creature made out of electromagnetism that makes a body out of metal and eats radiation.

YES!!!

[Michael Monn]

This reminds me of the race of aliens from Mass Effect that have to wear space suits or they die from all the bacteria in the outside environment.

Odraude wrote:

RainyDayNinja wrote:

Odraude wrote:

I really want a creature with an altogether different biochemistry make up. I want to see how an ammonia or silicon based lifeform would work out in a party.

An ammonia-based lifeform would need a constant life bubble up (or, you know, a space suit), since water vapor in the air would be acidic from its perspective.

I kinda of like that though. The space suit wouldn't be too far of a stretch, and it adds a bit of a danger if the suit has a malfunction.

While ammonia might be a bit tough, silicon based lifeforms would be more doable without a special suit.

I also want a non-humanoid alien in the game. having blue humans with forehead ridges is fine, but I'd like one to be really crazy. Amoeba aliens or octopi aliens or something just really different. A creature made out of electromagnetism that makes a body out of metal and eats radiation.

[Dragon78]

I thought they mentioned that one of the new races will not be humanoid in shape?

[Giorgo]

I am neutral on this question, more interested in asking if the game will support GMs in creating new races, similar to the RP system in Pathfinder.

[QuidEst]

I would imagine ratfolk are a core race because there are already ratfolk on another planet in Pathfinder canon. I wouldn't really expect other existing races to be upgraded to core unless they have a reason like that.

[William Ronald]

Perhaps the PFS core races can be added in future seasons. I can see elves and dwarves particularly fitting into a science fantasy setting. (Elves are aliens on Golarion and dwarves have a technological bent. I suppose that WoTC has copyright on tinker gnomes.)

[Nodrog]

Something along a Predator would be cool... or a hyper intelligent Xenomorph, cause my wife hates them. Or something like them as in their blood is harmful to others, they only eat fresh meat...

Asimov integrated life forms that don't breath human friendly air in several of his stories. Most had to carry small tanks of cyanide or similar poisonous gas to supplement the air on human worlds. Which would make for great story plot lines and role playing opportunities.

A race like the Hutts could be cool. But I agree more alien alien and less Star Trek humans with funny skin tones and bumps.

[Kobold Catgirl]

I was going to say "kobolds" and mean it, but I actually think ratfolk have our Sci-Fan PC race niche down cold. Kobolds are fine as asteroid pests, or whatever they have planned.

[xeose4]

I just hope we don't have 50 books on different human nations in space, the way we do with current Golarion material. I can pretty easily create a new human character of any identity - if I'm going to pay for new material, it needs to be something more interesting than "here have twenty different types of human ethnicities, but this time in space!'

whatever the non-human races, I would like room to have their own ethnic variants...

[Goddity]

Carbosilicate amorphs.

[Wei Ji the Learner]

xeose4 wrote:

I just hope we don't have 50 books on different human nations in space, the way we do with current Golarion material. I can pretty easily create a new human character of any identity - if I'm going to pay for new material, it needs to be something more interesting than "here have twenty different types of human ethnicities, but this time in space!'

whatever the non-human races, I would like room to have their own ethnic variants...

Well, unless the definition of 'human' has gotten thrown on a rack and stretched so hard that it's now 'transhuman', though that could bump against IP like 'Eclipse Phase' and others?

[Kodyax]

Well, we do have the strix and I for one have them show up in something like this as something akin to the hawk men from Flash Gordon.

[Dragon78]

We know that humans, lashunta, androids, and ratfolk are going to be core races. What other 3(or more) races will you guys pic as core?

[QuidEst]

Dragon78 wrote:

We know that humans, lashunta, androids, and ratfolk are going to be core races. What other 3(or more) races will you guys pic as core?

We know that humans, Ratfolk, and androids will be core. We know that lashunta will be in the game. I don't think we know for certain that lashunta will be core, although I might have missed something. Personally, I'd prefer any remaining core races to be aliens. The only other core/common/uncommon race I can think of with a reason to be core would be elves, and they've been confirmed as non-core, at least at present.

[Jack of Dust]

The starfinder page seems to indicate that Lashunta is a core race. Or playable at the very least.

Starfinder page wrote:

Take your favorite fantasy RPG to the stars! Set thousands of years in Pathfinder's future, Starfinder is a stand-alone roleplaying game evolved from the Pathfinder rules and designed to bring you a whole new universe of science fantasy adventures. Play alien races both new and familiar as you explore the mysteries of a weird galaxy. Will you be an android assassin fulfilling corporate contracts, or a plucky ratfolk mechanic? A spellhacking lashunta technomancer, or a rakish human pilot? Uncountable worlds are waiting for you and your intrepid crew!

[thecursor]

Just throwing this out there: Eoxian

[Odraude]

Wei Ji the Learner wrote:

xeose4 wrote:

I just hope we don't have 50 books on different human nations in space, the way we do with current Golarion material. I can pretty easily create a new human character of any identity - if I'm going to pay for new material, it needs to be something more interesting than "here have twenty different types of human ethnicities, but this time in space!'

whatever the non-human races, I would like room to have their own ethnic variants...

Well, unless the definition of 'human' has gotten thrown on a rack and stretched so hard that it's now 'transhuman', though that could bump against IP like 'Eclipse Phase' and others?

Luckily, the concept of transhumanism isn't patented by EP. There are plenty of games out there that delve into it, like Nova Praxis and Transhuman Space. I'd love to see how Pathfinder delves into cybernetics, uploading consciousness, and body modifications.

[xeose4]

Odraude wrote:

Wei Ji the Learner wrote:

xeose4 wrote:

I just hope we don't have 50 books on different human nations in space, the way we do with current Golarion material. I can pretty easily create a new human character of any identity - if I'm going to pay for new material, it needs to be something more interesting than "here have twenty different types of human ethnicities, but this time in space!'

whatever the non-human races, I would like room to have their own ethnic variants...

Well, unless the definition of 'human' has gotten thrown on a rack and stretched so hard that it's now 'transhuman', though that could bump against IP like 'Eclipse Phase' and others?

Luckily, the concept of transhumanism isn't patented by EP. There are plenty of games out there that delve into it, like Nova Praxis and Transhuman Space. I'd love to see how Pathfinder delves into cybernetics, uploading consciousness, and body modifications.

lashunta consciousness uploaded into an android body?

[Slithery D]

Goddity wrote:

Carbosilicate amorphs.

Gesundheit!

[Torbyne]

Hmm, Human, Android, Lashunta, Ratfolk... Looking at it from a game role perspective, lets assume humans remain the everyman race with a floating +2 ability score. Androids have +DEX and +Int but -CHA, Lashunta are a twofer with males being +STR, -WIS and females being +CHA -CON, Ratfolk have +DEX +INT and -STR. Ratfolk look to fill a very similar niche to Anroids but maybe the Ysoki variant will have different stats?

We have gaps in +CON and +WIS races. I could see some kind of alien bug species being a +WIS, -CHA and a Dwarf/H-Orc equivalent being the +CON race. It'd be a fun twist if the +CON race was maybe Silicon based and at least partially crystalline or some such. Another option for a +CON race could be cyborgs or other modified organizism, like how the Elan is a race created from "stock" races it could be pre-existing minds moved to more durable bodies.

TLDR format:

Any role: Humans
STR: Male Lashunta
DEX: Android, Ratfolk
CON: GAP - Race needed
INT: Android, Ratfolk
WIS: GAP - Race needed
CHA: Female Lashunta

[Milo v3]

Kobold Cleaver wrote:

I was going to say "kobolds" and mean it, but I actually think ratfolk have our Sci-Fan PC race niche down cold. Kobolds are fine as asteroid pests, or whatever they have planned.

Hey, those outer dragons of the future'll need kobolds to mine planets for solar and time dragon hoards. Might leave a few solar systems dead and mineral-less but true dragons need their hoards.

[Odraude]

xeose4 wrote:

Odraude wrote:

Wei Ji the Learner wrote:

xeose4 wrote:

I just hope we don't have 50 books on different human nations in space, the way we do with current Golarion material. I can pretty easily create a new human character of any identity - if I'm going to pay for new material, it needs to be something more interesting than "here have twenty different types of human ethnicities, but this time in space!'

whatever the non-human races, I would like room to have their own ethnic variants...

Well, unless the definition of 'human' has gotten thrown on a rack and stretched so hard that it's now 'transhuman', though that could bump against IP like 'Eclipse Phase' and others?

Luckily, the concept of transhumanism isn't patented by EP. There are plenty of games out there that delve into it, like Nova Praxis and Transhuman Space. I'd love to see how Pathfinder delves into cybernetics, uploading consciousness, and body modifications.

lashunta consciousness uploaded into an android body?

Pretty much. I mean, we have the groundwork laid out with the reincarnate spell, so I think it'd be possible.

[Samy]

Torbyne wrote:

STR: Male Lashunta

DEX: Android, Ratfolk
CON: GAP - Race needed
INT: Android, Ratfolk
WIS: GAP - Race needed
CHA: Female Lashunta

Lashunta go in INT as well. Both male and female lashunta have +INT. So technically, all the core races known at this point can be +INT. Which I suppose makes sort of sense for a *SCIENCE* fiction game.

[Torbyne]

Samy wrote:

Torbyne wrote:

STR: Male Lashunta

DEX: Android, Ratfolk
CON: GAP - Race needed
INT: Android, Ratfolk
WIS: GAP - Race needed
CHA: Female Lashunta

Lashunta go in INT as well. Both male and female lashunta have +INT. So technically, all the core races known at this point can be +INT. Which I suppose makes sort of sense for a *SCIENCE* fiction game.

"Whoops!" said Torbyne. Thanks Samy, good catch. I suppose a common trope in Sci-Fi/Fantasy is the "barbaric" race that didnt get to space on its own, there is a possibility for a -INT, +CON/+STR option there.

[Dale McCoy Jr]

Wei Ji the Learner wrote:

Well, unless the definition of 'human' has gotten thrown on a rack and stretched ...

Link

[David knott 242]

I could see them balancing humans with the more powerful races by giving them Dual Talent without having them give up the Bonus Feat or Skilled racial features, though -- and perhaps giving Ratfolk (who live on multiple planets) some sort of advantage in adapting to different atmosphere and gravity conditions. They could also weaken stronger races native to low gravity planets like Akiton by giving them disadvantages in standard (Earth/Golarion-like) gravity.

[Ventnor]

Outer Dragons being the main dragon species that PCs have to deal with would be kind of neat. Especially if there were "Battlecruiser vs. Ancient Wyrm" type skirmishes.

[Luthorne]

I'd also like to note we don't know if the races will have exactly the same racial traits that they do in Pathfinder, whether that's simply because racial traits might work differently, or have a different standard power level, or because environmental/social factors will make different racial traits make more sense. Or any combination thereof. So what is and isn't too powerful may not match the expectations of Pathfinder.

And yeah, some things will depend on what is and isn't considered common for the setting. If an environmental suit is expensive, some races seem out of the question, but if it's equivalent of the free outfit everyone gets in Pathfinder, that's a different story.

As for me, personally, I would like...

1) An insectile race. The trox or a 0-HD caste for the formians that acts as a scout/diplomat or something similar for the hives would both work well. We know the original trox are from Nchak, and were eight-legged non-humanoids, while the versions we have stats for (having been modified by their own race for the expedition) landed on Golarion, where they were enslaved and inbred by the duergar to be strong and dumb. I would like to think that after being freed they might return to being perhaps less strong but also less mentally inferior. And, of course, the formians are a major race on Castrovel. Some sort of spider-like race would also be neat...

2) A reptilian race. We know lizardfolk dwell on Akiton, so having a 0-HD lizardfolk variant (which is already in the Advanced Race Guide) seems like an option, as do reptoids, depending on how they're portrayed and how they might have changed since Golarion vanished, though we know basically nothing about the role of reptoids in Golarion and its solar system, as well as if they're from somewhere in it or beyond it. Also, potentially dragonkin if a 0-HD version could be made of them, which I think could be an interesting option with their psychic bond.

3) Some weirder humanoid options. The maraquoi are known to be humanoids with silky fur, a prehensile tail, the ability to hear through their skin rather than ears, and seven genders, which sounds pretty fascinating as an option to go into their society. The sarecesians are also pretty fascinating as a race that transformed themselves after the destruction of their worlds to be able to survive in space - presuming that environmental suits are standard, this wouldn't necessarily be too powerful an option for a basic race - and they also have magical generators that make some of their asteroids habitable, because they need normal environments for reproduction still. Shobhads could be interesting too, if a 0-HD race version was made of them...space giants are neat. On Thyst, there's also mention of a race of humanoids who depend on radiation to survive, and their skin absorbs all light, though apparently some think that might actually be armor, and they've just not been seen without it...we don't even have a name for them, but it could be interesting to have them expanded on.

4) Some non-humanoids. On Arkanen, we know that there's a race of centaur-like creatures who live with some humanoid aliens, and are at least advanced enough to have scientists and magic-users studying various anomalies, and some believe Arkanen has colonized other places, so, they could be an interesting, workable option for a non-humanoid. Less likely but still interesting are the kalo from Kalo-Mahoi, who are supposed to be aquatic, bat-shaped, but also kind of like jellyfish...so they probably couldn't survive in normal environments without a suit. There's also the urogs from Dykon, who are silicon-based creatures...who move around using microscopic cillia and electromagnetic fields, absorbing sunlight and communicating through electrical signals...I think a silicoid form of life would be awesome, but they're definitely very alien, so I'd definitely understand if they didn't make the cut. We've also got the sapient robots from Aballonian, which aren't humanoid, but they also seem challenging, especially with their ability to modify themselves...but sufficient rules could help there.

...and, uh, vercites, just because I think their society and propensity for cybernetics is pretty neat.

Edit: Though I do hope that humanity isn't the strongest race like it is now, regardless.

[Ambrosia Slaad]

Odraude wrote:

RainyDayNinja wrote:

Odraude wrote:

I really want a creature with an altogether different biochemistry make up. I want to see how an ammonia or silicon based lifeform would work out in a party.

An ammonia-based lifeform would need a constant life bubble up (or, you know, a space suit), since water vapor in the air would be acidic from its perspective.

I kinda of like that though. The space suit wouldn't be too far of a stretch, and it adds a bit of a danger if the suit has a malfunction.

I dunno, it seemed to work well enough for Zuckuss and the Gand.

RainyDayNinja wrote:

I actually wrote a short medical mystery novel with an ammonia-based lifeform as a patient. They used sulfur (which is surprisingly soluble in ammonia!) for respiration instead of oxygen, and so didn't actually need to breath. Tissue was polythiazyl-based instead of carbon-based.

Neat!

Dale McCoy Jr wrote:

Can I help develop them?!?

:)

[Grond]

Call me crazy but I want to see the same core races in Pathfinder plus some new races. People are fine with humans in the future why not also Dwarves, Elves, Halflings etc? I would love to see how those races are adopted into a future Pathfinder setting.

[Luthorne]

Grond wrote:

Call me crazy but I want to see the same core races in Pathfinder plus some new races. People are fine with humans in the future why not also Dwarves, Elves, Halflings etc? I would love to see how those races are adopted into a future Pathfinder setting.

Well, I think they already said that while the other core races from Pathfinder will exist in Starfinder, they won't be core races there.

At least part of that might be wanting to avoid flooding a interplanetary if not interstellar setting with too many races that originate from a single planet, elves being the only possible exception there, since it's heavily implied they originate from Castrovel. After all, it does seem a bit strange that so many of the main races in the setting would come from one planet...it makes more sense that some would wind up dominating their planets (as humans did) and wind up representing that planet more, and that on other planets, other races would be more likely to be the dominant races from their own planet, and thus be represented more in this new solar group, much less a potentially interstellar group.

[David knott 242]

Luthorne wrote:

Also, potentially dragonkin if a 0-HD version could be made of them, which I think could be an interesting option with their psychic bond.

More likely, since they are size Large and can be ridden, would be for them to be available as a class feature for characters of standard races. If Dragonkin are commonly available, then Triaxians would have to be available as a player character race (since both come from the same planet, and it would not make sense for one but not both of them to spread throughout the solar system).

[Samy]

Grond wrote:

People are fine with humans in the future why not also Dwarves, Elves, Halflings etc?

Mostly to get something new instead of the same old same old. I can already put elves and dwarves in space, they have a metric ton of favored class bonuses, alternate racial traits, culture, EVERYTHING. I'm extremely glad that we can get the spotlight shone somewhere else for a change.

[Luthorne]

David knott 242 wrote:

Luthorne wrote:

Also, potentially dragonkin if a 0-HD version could be made of them, which I think could be an interesting option with their psychic bond.

More likely, since they are size Large and can be ridden, would be for them to be available as a class feature for characters of standard races. If Dragonkin are commonly available, then Triaxians would have to be available as a player character race (since both come from the same planet, and it would not make sense for one but not both of them to spread throughout the solar system).

I think it's a little insulting for a fully sapient, tool-using race to be reduced to a class feature instead of finding their own path through the galaxy. After all, if Triaxians and Dragonkin spread out into space, they presumably are not being threatened by an abundance of chromatic dragons while off-world, so there's likely less need for them to establish psychic bonds out of necessity.

One imagines this psychic faculty was originally used between other dragonkin, and was repurposed for their alliance against the draconic menace native to Triaxus. And, of course, they might well find members of other races out there that they might bond with, rather than only triaxians. One might also consider that triaxians, tied as they are to their planet's seasons, might prefer to remain on their planet, while dragonkin, to our knowledge, seem to be less tightly bound. And even if they do, it doesn't mean the two races will necessarily thrive at the same rates, depending on how each fares in the vastness of space.

Ultimately, it's up to James Sutter and his people to decide his vision of the future of Triaxus, but the fates of the two races need not necessarily be completely tied together, even if they currently have a long-lasting alliance. Perhaps dragonkin will prefer to stay on-planet, perhaps triaxians will, perhaps they will both go to the same places, perhaps they will colonize different places, perhaps an alien disease ravaged triaxian populations on a planet, leaving the dragonkin to carry on, perhaps the reverse, who can say? It's certainly not clear what would and would not make sense without knowing what will happen on Triaxus...and off it!

[Rogar Valertis]

Samy wrote:

Grond wrote:

People are fine with humans in the future why not also Dwarves, Elves, Halflings etc?

Mostly to get something new instead of the same old same old. I can already put elves and dwarves in space, they have a metric ton of favored class bonuses, alternate racial traits, culture, EVERYTHING. I'm extremely glad that we can get the spotlight shone somewhere else for a change.

In which D&D setting (Golarion more than most) races like elves or dwarves or gnomes are in the spotlight? Usually humans dominate D&D settings not demi humans.

To me Starfinder would do well to ALSO REINVENT core races, making them something extremely different than the usual tokienesque trope.

[Dragon78]

Triaxians do have a +2 to con if you want a con bonus race.

Actually it has never been confirmed that Elves originated from Castrovel though they would like to think they did.

Gnomes are found on Triaxus and do not suffer from the bleaching so there personalities will be a little different.

It would interesting if they could have living Eoxians like how they were before most of them become undead or degenerate living creatures.
Eoxians use human stats except they have a +4Int -4Con.

[Samy]

Rogar Valertis wrote:

In which D&D setting (Golarion more than most) races like elves or dwarves or gnomes are in the spotlight?

Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Krynn, Golarion...just to name a few.

Quote:

Usually humans dominate D&D settings not demi humans.

You're making the mistake of assuming that spotlight means the most common race. Elves and dwarves aren't the most common race in any of those settings, but they receive a HUGE amount of spotlight compared to, say, samsarans. If you doubt me just look at the page counts in Inner Sea Races or Advanced Race Guide and compare how many pages elves get compared to samsarans.