Splitting Alien Archives... and Bestiaries?

[JiCi]

Ok, for people who... kinda hated the myriad of races in Pathfinder, you're going to be disappointed in Starfinder, because the world is like 1 million times bigger with multiple planets :P

The first Alien Archive had both playable aliens and monstruous aliens. Considering the... rather huge amount of creatures Starfinder might end up with, would it be better to just split the books between what aliens are playable and what aliens are simply monsters?

Alien Archive 2 only has playable aliens; Starfinder Bestiary only has monstrous aliens.

[L4ughingm4n]

I rather have the one book, but would have them do two different sections (one for PC and one for Non-PC) instead of having them mixed together.

[Vexies]

I am in favor of keeping it as is. I like the idea that a lot of the life you find out in the vast is sentient. I think it would be cool to group them by planet though.

[Tender Tendrils]

I like that every starfinder book released has things for everyone- even the APs have character options for players and various creatures/items for GMs who are running their own campaign, and I like that element of the alien archive as it means every release slot benefits everyone

[rixu]

Keeping the book as AA1 was is fine by me, but like the "Index by CR" in book 1 it would be really helpful for a GM to have "Index by Biome" or something like that. You could easily look which creatures are usually found from arid, jungle, aquatic, void etc. surroundings.

I also like the idea of playable/NPC -seperation. Helps the players to check races for characters.

[Jimbles the Mediocre]

I think that intentionally blurring the line between what is monstrous and what is playable is a key design aspect in the worldbuilding of Starfinder, so we're unlikely to see any sort of split in Archive materials.

I also don't think we'll see a split between the PC/NPC rules in future rulebooks, because that leads to some issues for the person physically organizing the book's layout - where do you put the art or the lore text? It'll end up with readers flipping back and forth so they can read both entries.

For those of you saying that a list of separated PC stats would be useful for players to browse, don't forget that Alien Archive delineates playable races in the very useful table of contents.

[Silas Stadatilas]

Jimbles the Mediocre wrote:

I think that intentionally blurring the line between what is monstrous and what is playable is a key design aspect in the worldbuilding of Starfinder, so we're unlikely to see any sort of split in Archive materials.

I also don't think we'll see a split between the PC/NPC rules in future rulebooks, because that leads to some issues for the person physically organizing the book's layout - where do you put the art or the lore text? It'll end up with readers flipping back and forth so they can read both entries.

For those of you saying that a list of separated PC stats would be useful for players to browse, don't forget that Alien Archive delineates playable races in the very useful table of contents.

As a practical matter, there is little page loss from having the PC stat information in the same area as the monster creation page. If they were to be separated out, some information would need to be reprinted in both entries or have references back to the other page. This is the same issue for the races that have some unusual equipment information included within the entry.

As for race bloat, you can determine in each game how much it is going to like a cantina scene. In the game I play in, there are some of the races that have been banned or discouraged. In Starfinder Society, there are limits on what races may be used with the legacy races and some others needing a special boon to play.

[thecursor]

I'm happy with the current system but I would at least like them to split playable races and monsters into different sections for easier reference.

[Kudaku]

I suspect a problem with the Bestiary series is that they're mostly bought by GMs, a relatively small selection of the RPG market. By combining PC races and NPC monsters in one book it suddenly has a much broader appeal since it now has content relevant for both players and GMs.

Personally I quite like how the Alien Archives is set up, though I hope they'll add a vital statistics table for the new races introduced.

[EltonJ]

I also like how the Alien Archives are set up now. I quite enjoy the way that they are setup and I also like how the Archives can appeal to a wider audience.

[thecursor]

Kudaku wrote:

I suspect a problem with the Bestiary series is that they're mostly bought by GMs, a relatively small selection of the RPG market. By combining PC races and NPC monsters in one book it suddenly has a much broader appeal since it now has content relevant for both players and GMs.

Personally I quite like how the Alien Archives is set up, though I hope they'll add a vital statistics table for the new races introduced.

Uh, no. Bestiaries are purchased by players as well

[Chouru]

thecursor wrote:

Kudaku wrote:

I suspect a problem with the Bestiary series is that they're mostly bought by GMs, a relatively small selection of the RPG market. By combining PC races and NPC monsters in one book it suddenly has a much broader appeal since it now has content relevant for both players and GMs.

Personally I quite like how the Alien Archives is set up, though I hope they'll add a vital statistics table for the new races introduced.

Uh, no. Bestiaries are purchased by players as well

When I played pathfinder long ago, all I ever had was a player's handbook. Care to explain why I would have wanted a Bestiary as a player, aside from trying to possibly "meta" the game I was playing in?

[Damanta]

In case of pathfinder bestiaries as a player you want bestiaries to know how to use:
Summon Monster I - IX
Summon Nature's Ally I - IX
Summon Good Monster
Summon Evil Monster
Beast Shape I - IV
Elemental Body I - IV
Giant Form I - II
Undead Anatomy I - IV
Alter Self
Form of the Dragon I - III
Form of the Exotic Dragon I - III
Form of the Alien Dragon I - III

And I'm sure I'm missing a bunch.

For Starfinder you want the Alien Archives for extra races, extra player options like Summon Monster and Polymorph spells, and items.

[Garretmander]

I like how they are now personally.

But... after AA3 and dawn of flame, I think my custom reincarnate table is going to be full... I'm going to have to switch to a spreadsheet past that.

[thecursor]

Damanta wrote:

In case of pathfinder bestiaries as a player you want bestiaries to know how to use:

Summon Monster I - IX
Summon Nature's Ally I - IX
Summon Good Monster
Summon Evil Monster
Beast Shape I - IV
Elemental Body I - IV
Giant Form I - II
Undead Anatomy I - IV
Alter Self
Form of the Dragon I - III
Form of the Exotic Dragon I - III
Form of the Alien Dragon I - III

And I'm sure I'm missing a bunch.

For Starfinder you want the Alien Archives for extra races, extra player options like Summon Monster and Polymorph spells, and items.

On top of that: there are playable race stats in the bestiaries occasionally and some entries are used as companions. A lot of non GMs own the books is what I'm saying.

[Damanta]

That would be part of the I'm sure I'm missing a bunch :)
I just figured it'd be useful to give some examples to the person wanting to know why a player would buy those books.

The Starfinder Alien Archives serve the same purpose, but even more expanded because of the easier playable race stats and the extra worldbuilding.

[The Ragi]

89 playable races so far (counting the dimorphic and other similar subdivisions).

[FormerFiend]

I don't think they need to split it up, but I also wouldn't be opposed to an Advanced Race Guide/Inner Sea Races equivalent style book that goes into more detail and caters more specifically to the playable aliens.

[thecursor]

FormerFiend wrote:

I don't think they need to split it up, but I also wouldn't be opposed to an Advanced Race Guide/Inner Sea Races equivalent style book that goes into more detail and caters more specifically to the playable aliens.

Oh god, this for sure.

If Paizo ever decides they have a good smattering of the most common races of the local cluster of worlds, they could then give us a solid "Pact Worlds Races" book.