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One of the things I like about Starfinder is seeing where the team was inspired from different things.
Solarian is obviously a nod at the Jedi.
Kasatha, with their fondness for melee weapons and specific culture, echo all the "honorable warrior" races from science fiction TV.
This is one I found really interesting - I'm re-reading the Hyperion books by Dan Simmons.
In this books the AI Core is trying to create an AI god. There are 3 factions of the AI Core. Part of their long term plans involved giving humans "farcasters" or planetary stargates. This was done with an ulterior motive that was not in humanities best interest, but at the very least - serious hidden motive.
We have Triune - AI god from 3 pieces. He gives humans the ability to travel to far off planets. Implications are of a longer term plan with an ulterior motive.
Just found that amusing.
And no, I'm not saying it is bad - they are trying to create a game that can do many styles, and having lots of little recognizable bits is a good thing.
Hmm now wondering how to stat up the Shrike...
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Actaully, a friend of mine thought Solarians were more inspired by Green Lanterns than Jedi. I think they have some similarities to Lensmen.
The Android terrorists also allow for Bladerunner-type hunters.
And of course, the Kasatha were originally inspired by John Carter's Barsoom, weren't they?
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My SO's quite certain the Idari is the Galactica.
I don't know the reference well-enough to say.
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Vesk seem like the Trandoshans or maybe that lizard from star trek.
I think the mystic has a lot of Farscape elements in the space magic, and Zhaan would fit in as one perfectly.
Well for direct references we have a trash compactor trap (better hope you have a drone out there that can turn it off, yikes) and transparent aluminium.
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The whole Vesk & Human relationship seems to mirror Minbari & human from Babylon 5.
Well for direct references we have a trash compactor trap (better hope you have a drone out there that can turn it off, yikes) and transparent aluminium.
Transparent aluminum is actually a real thing. No reference to Star Trek, although that's where the idea came from.
Speaking of Hyperion influences, I believe James Sutter indicated once that the Sarcesians of the Diaspora were inspired by the Ousters.
We have Triune - AI god from 3 pieces.
Right out of Neuromancer! But I wonder if the pieces where ever called "Mirage, Morgana, and Deus?"
Right out of Neuromancer! But I wonder if the pieces where ever called "Mirage, Morgana, and Deus?"
We have Triune - AI god from 3 pieces.
Well the concept of a three aspected god goes a lot further back than the sources we cited. :)
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I think the mystic has a lot of Farscape elements in the space magic, and Zhaan would fit in as one perfectly.
Agreed. Now we just a need a plant race.
Agreed. Now we just a need a plant race.
I think the mystic has a lot of Farscape elements in the space magic, and Zhaan would fit in as one perfectly.
From what I hear, Starfinder will have better monsters with class levels rules than Pathfinder, so any low CR sentient plant monster could do the trick.
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There is a "holistic detective" agency on Absalom Station.
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Absalom Station as Babylon 5?
Kasatha feel like a "this won't violate copyright, honest" version of Thri-Kreen from Athas.
Both are four-armed races originating on scorching hot desert worlds orbiting red suns.
Given that Pathfinder was published much later and that Pathfinder was directly based on D&D, the connection is hard to deny.
One of the Beyond the Pact Worlds reminds me of Harry Harrison's Death World.
Agreed. Now we just a need a plant race.
I think the mystic has a lot of Farscape elements in the space magic, and Zhaan would fit in as one perfectly.
We're getting one in March.
Absolom Station is the Citadel(Mass Effect) crossed with Babylon 5.
The Drift is a less hostile version of Warhammer 40K's Warp crossed with Babylon 5's take on Hyperspace.
The Stewards are very much the Specters from Mass Effect.
The Mystics are "Space Clerics" though much of their flavor is psionic/psychic, every sci-fi character tied into something metaphysical is embodied here. The Jedi/Sith, Destiny's Guardians, 40k's Psykers, Star Trek Deep Space 9's Benjamin Sisko as "The Emissary". Paul Atreides from Dune. Maybe just the Pilgrim's from Wing Commander and or the Newtypes from Mobile Suite Gundam.
The Free Captains are the Ravager's from Guardians of the Galaxy crossed with the Brethren Court from Pirates of the Caribbean.
From what I hear, Starfinder will have better monsters with class levels rules than Pathfinder, so any low CR sentient plant monster could do the trick.Agreed. Now we just a need a plant race.
I think the mystic has a lot of Farscape elements in the space magic, and Zhaan would fit in as one perfectly.
Actually I read there were plant races in either the Alien Archive or the Pact Worlds book.
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Actually I read there were plant races in either the Alien Archive or the Pact Worlds book.From what I hear, Starfinder will have better monsters with class levels rules than Pathfinder, so any low CR sentient plant monster could do the trick.Agreed. Now we just a need a plant race.
I think the mystic has a lot of Farscape elements in the space magic, and Zhaan would fit in as one perfectly.
That is correct.
I'm also very excited for both of those books.
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Then there's the surprising potential Steven Universe inspiration that may exist in the Azlanti Star Empire. A massive imperialistic civilization with advanced technology, hostility/contempt towards outsider species, a regimented society with some of the originals considered "pure" or inherently superior, and a tendency of having embedded gems in their bodies that grant them magic powers...
I wouldn't have batted an eye if I didn't spot the fact that SU was, for some reason, actually called out in the Inspirational Material page.
Oh, there's also Daimalko, a world ravaged by giant monstrosities with a few barely surviving inhabitants living on the fringes. That sounds a little like a mix between Neon Genesis Evangelion and Attack on Titan, tbh.
Oh, and the Akiton junkers are probably a Mad Max omage (especially since that series too is, for some reason, on the page).
I even got a vibe for some of Richard K. Morgans "a Land Fit for Heroes" saga with the Drift being possibly comparable to their Aldrain Marches, though the first think I thought was, like someone already mentioned, Warhammer 40K's Warp.
And the first thing I heard when I heard about ships that use hell-energy for transportation is DOOM. Now I *really* wanna make a human soldier who dresses in power armor and rips and tears his way through demons.
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The tri-gendered Shirren remind me of "The Gods Themselves", an Isaac Asimov novel I read as a kid. If you're looking for some ideas for Shirren sexuality, there are some fascinating notions in the second part of the novel.
The tri-gendered Shirren remind me of "The Gods Themselves", an Isaac Asimov novel I read as a kid. If you're looking for some ideas for Shirren sexuality, there are some fascinating notions in the second part of the novel.
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I love the The Gods Themselves. Rereading it a second time was a treat.| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
If you remove the bits about Puppeteer reproduction involving a "host" of a different species who is killed in the process, the sexes of Larry Niven's Puppeteers seem to be close to Shirren sexes. We know that Nessus and the Hindmost in the Ringworld novels were of different sexes (one being "male" and one being "female" in Shirren terms), but not which one was which.
Since the Puppeteers had to deal with the highly sexist Kzin, they described the "hosts" as "female" and the other two sexes as two different types of "male".
Iain Banks' The Player of Hames features a humanoid race with three sexes that function as the shirren do, although the society is very Azlanti Star Empire.
The spell thrower fusion for weapons seems a lot like an outlaw Star caster pistol.
Elves being xenophobic isolationists comes from The Complete Book of Elves, a trope I was hoping Paizo was moving away from. ):
Arquand (page 463) is Solaris, straight up.
Ask Beren about it sometime...
The soldier ability for armour spec "on the bounce" is a direct reference to Starship Troopers. The book not the movie
I noticed that too. That was a real treat.
The swarm and powered armor also hearkens back to Starship Troopers as well.
Does the squad defiance armor remind anyone else of the armor seen in Halo? Or the free booters armor of Star Lord?
