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While androids do not need to breathe and can survive in space, I don’t believe I see anything regarding food consumption in the Constructed racial trait. I presume this means androids must consume normal food and digest it like the rest of us meatbags? I ask because the android in my group just expressed a preference for drinking motor oil, and I’m not certain that’d be good for them.
Lol, well it doesn't say what you have to eat anywhere... Since it doesn't have much if any real impact mechanically and is mostly a roleplaying choice does it matter?
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Androids have a lot of synthetic biological components, dont they? Its not exactly a big game breaker but i would assume the character would have taste buds just like a regular organic and would find motor oil distasteful even if their body could process it and gain nutritional value.
Starfinder Scenario 1-03 involves the PCs being forced to eat some really distasteful food or offend some aliens. The scenario says that the food is universally disgusting to the PCs, and makes no special exception for Androids, so that seems to imply that they can eat, and that they do have tastebuds (as they have to make a save or hork it up just like all other PCs)
Also it is a super science setting so it could very well be that 'motor oil' in their future is some kind of bio/organic derivative. Non toxic, environmentally neutral but generally not consumed since it is not nutritious and/or tastes bad.
With that assumption then it should be ok for an android (or anyone) to drink it. They just have freaky tastes. And will probably be very regular.
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Starfinder "motor oil" is just Grade B fleeb juice and frappéd dinglebop extract, byproducts from plumbus manufacture.
If your players is imagining typical hydrocarbon chain oil they seem to have a deep misunderstanding about Starfinder's Androids. They are a biological creatures which have been engineered from synthetic analogs to regular biological materials, but these synthetic materials are still biological in nature.
Androids need to consume materials which provides the needed energy and nutrition for them, this isn't described in detail so far as I know but it seems unlikely that oil would be such a source. At most it would simply an energy source, and not provide other nutritional value. It'd be a lot like pure sugar if Androids could process it.
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Long-story-short, the player is looking to be a Star-Wars-esque droid as opposed to the Blade-Runner-esque replicants that Paizo intended androids to be.
Our GM has thankfully resolved the issue by having the server give him a can of SINTH - A Synthetic Blend for Synthetic Tastes! I’m honestly slapping my forehead wondering why I didn’t think of that!
Though I will say that I empathize with my fellow players desire to play a true robot. Androids don’t really fill that niche well, and unfortunately anacites didn’t get player race rules in the Alien Archive.
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What, exactly, does the Android "not do", beyond the purely cosmetic?
Well, like the initial question that prompted this thread, androids need to consume food and beverages to survive, as opposed to, say, plugging themselves into a wall socket each night. They have skin and synthetic muscles as opposed to metal plating and servomotors. And you’re pretty much limited to a humanoid shape as opposed to, say, a barrel on wheels or a floating sphere.
Sounds like the player might be happier playing a Mechanic with a combat drone. Then play from the droid point of view and treat the mechanic like a hireling. (Like automatically give the drone the move and swift from the mechanic.)
Chief Technical Officer
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Our GM has thankfully resolved the issue by having the server give him a can of SINTH - A Synthetic Blend for Synthetic Tastes! I’m honestly slapping my forehead wondering why I didn’t think of that!
I recommend the new SINTH-flavored vodka, Absolut SINTH (AbSINTH for short).
{chews & snaps semi-edible polymer:} Whatta'll it be, Mac? We've got New SINTH, SINTH Classic, Diet SINTH -- your choice of aspartame, sucralose, or saccharin --, SINTHLoco, NecroSINTH, and Tab.
Don't forget that classic hallucinogen, Ab-SINTH.
In all serious, they have released rules for SROs which are sentient robotic organism. You can play an actual mechanical robot/android instead of a biological android.
Not sure why this was necro'd but...yeah, it would make sense for robots to be able to eat. Eating food for resources, energy and building materials, is more convenient than plugging yourself in and shoving UPBs in some slot on your chest, especially if those things might not be immediately available.