Venture-Captain, Minnesota
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Gentle Beings --
What makes some races in Starfinder more popular than others? What gives a race 'wow' appeal?
Here are some of my thoughts:
Game Mechanics
Aasimars in Pathfinder were perennially popular, not just because of their flavor, but also because their core mechanics made them a solid choice for so many classes. While I think that it plays less of a factor in Starfinder than in PF1 (any race can be any class in Starfinder) I do believe that it's still a consideration. Kasathas are not seen a lot, I believe in part because their story "Hey, we're the original solarians, y'all!" does not match their mechanics. (In contrast, lashuntas are di-morphic, telepathic, and can fit a lot of class concepts.)
Story in the Setting
I think this is a HUGE factor in race popularity. Why are Morlamaws so beloved? Because they had a kick-ass story that was written by a kick-ass author, Kate Baker. Androids have amazing stories behind them, especially with their souls only having their bodies for a while, and their liberation movement. Vesks have their Empire, the Veskarium, and their honor system. Their brusqueness is very appealing. Skittermanders are an alien archive race that tie in beautifully with the vesk, and that have come in with a ready-made story. The contrast between the two? AWESOME. Put a vesk and a skittermander in the same party, and you have roleplaying gold.
The popularity is legacy races was also a story-based thing. A lot of people wanted to play an old racial favorite in the Pact Worlds setting, in part because of the legacy of story material that these races carried with them.
Graspable
Aliens based on animals, like Uplifted Bears or Cat People, are somewhat easier for players to grasp because the animals they're based on are familiar. It can be often easier to grok a critter based on familiar animals or folklore than something completely alien or new.
Nuar are Scholarly Space Minotaurs whose lineage seems to have a natural tie in to the old minotaur prince of Absalom in Pathfinder days. They're listed in the population for Absalom Station, and feel eminently graspable as a race. You look at them, and you have a strong feeling for what they're about.
Races with Great Art
Yes, this makes a difference. I've wanted to play a Kalo every since I saw the image of a Kalo fashionista from Alien Archive. Cute / pretty / fierce races will appeal more than ones that just look blah.
Weirdness or Perceived Rarity.
Everyone loves having something rare or unusual. Being able to play something completely weird that no one else has is kind of cool. There will always be a new 'hot' race that everyone wants until the next hot race comes along.
Takeaways
There are a lot of races in the Cantina. It's been estimated that there are over 60 races between the various books and APs. But I've noticed more enthusiasm for some than others. Races that have a scenario connection have a built-in story that will appeal to players. However, some of the races that appear in the backmatter of APs have little to no story context. Both Ferrans and Woioko have nifty mechanics. They're solid and interesting races from a mechanical standpoint. But because there's no history or setting with which to build a character backstory, it might limit their appeal. This combined with the necessity of owning the APs makes these races a bit less popular than they otherwise might be.
I'd love to see these lesser known races get their chance for a cameo in Starfinder lore, and a chance to shine.
Thoughts?
Why do some races appeal to you more than others? What races do you most want to play with?
Hmm
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On the rarity thing, the reason I prefer to play races outside the core book is not because they're rare. But because they're still "alien". By putting alien races in the core book, you make them everyday sights. People are use to seeing a vesk or a shirren, but a Wrikreechee or Barathu are strange and alien. And at least in Starfinder, I want that feeling of strange and alien.
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Art.
Then the mechanics to back-up what I envision for the character based on what the art inspired (sometimes it's playing to expectations, sometimes its subverting them). If the mechanics don't support my idea, I'll pass it over for a different character concept.
That said, I'm very much looking forward to building and playing my khizar even though the art failed to inspire me--the description paints a more interesting picture in my mind--because they are so alien in so many ways.
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In general
Does the race synergize well with the mechanics for your class and idea? Optimization is a part of the game (aasimar and tiefling were uber popular for a reason..) And I don't think its JUST the vesks military culture that cranks out so many vesk soldiers. The extra HP, extra armor, strength bonus, lessened armor check penalty, and devestating free claw attacks make them really good at the job.
Likewise lashunta's floating skill bonuses are great for being the very best ace pilot in the galaxy, but I have yet to see a Korasha lashunta, I think because they don't really make another character that another race couldn't do better.
For me I don't think its any surprise that I really like ysoki. Dex and Int are both amazing in starfinder in general and great googly moogly good in starfinder where you need to cover a bunch of skills. Their skill bonuses aren't necessarily where you want them, but +2 to engineering couldn't be better placed unless it was in perception and +2 stealth and survival are nothing to sneeze at. +5 to the acrobatics checks where you really NEED the +5 is amazing if you like to tumble through people. Free kip up feat lets you drop prone whenever you want with little worry of it bitting you in the butt. If you're a ranged character you should be spending almost as much time horizontal as vertical.
The cheek pouches are funny, adorable, and ridiculously handy when you need something in a hurry.
Being a rat gives you a good starting point to quickly establish a character as you embrace subvert or play with the stereotypes. Most of the fun I have in starship combat is descibing how a mouse would go about fixing things, chewing wires and absurdly practical but effective short cuts. (Yes. Last starship combat we were absolutely down to a ysoki powered treadmill to keep the shields powered. We used the kitchen sink 3 rounds prior)
Coming from a species with a fair bit of sexual dimorphism, ysoki more or less lacking that physically or culturally leads to the occasional bit of humor or questioning its role in the society of various species. I like pointing out how weird humans are when you think about it.
I also like playing something small and cute, because if I want to play a 6 foot 4 barbarian with a giant axe I just need to put on Thick socks.
The growing mischief.
Justin. White rat with red eyes. A high int moderate wisdom Star Shaman. Like a lot of rats he's a neat freak, and carries multiple species hygiene kits. Being called a rat is just what people do, and doesn't care enough to make a fuss with it.
Melissa: Light gray rat with a white heart around her face and a giant pink bow on her tail (because humans care about gender, but are really bad at telling with ysoki) . Very nice and overly friendly Soldier/Envoy with a giant gun. Is usually a LITTLE too eager to stuff unknown pharmaceuticals into her cheek pouch, with hilarious results. She's fine with being called a mouse, but call her a rat and she'll pointed remind you that she'll spend most of the mission firing a portable zamboni between your legs and you REALLY don't want her to slip.
Jessica: An 18 strength Mobility/thrown weapon Operative. Subverts the small weak mouse thing by beating the snot out things with brute force, but otherwise fully embraces the fact that she's a rat, as Grandma teaches. I like the juxtaposition with "awww its so small and cute" followed by a fountain of blood as she gleefully cuts through the battlefield. "If we need someone alive tell me in advance. Humanoid Resources has told me I'm not allowed to make that decision anymore"
Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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I've seen a couple of Korasha Lashunta, not just my own. Skilled characters are popular in our area and they're a high-Strength core race with no Intelligence penalty and some skill bonuses that help make you relevant even in skills that aren't on your prime ability. For soldiers and solarians they're good.
Kasathas frustrate me, I like the idea of them a lot but mechanically they just don't get there.
* +Str/-Int is painful for soldiers/solarians who only get 4 skill points to start with.
* 4 arms is only an advantage for very specific builds (2H guns + 2H melee). And you're competing against races with natural weapons like Vesk.
* +Str/+Wis only does something for melee mystics, which is rather niche. For everyone else it's like "well I needed the Str but the Wis is just nice" or "I needed the Wis and I guess the Str is for more bulk?" - a bit underwhelming.
It's not that they're unplayable, but they don't have mechanical sizzle while other races do. I think it could change, but we need a few more abilities/feats/items that really make 4 hands valuable to tip the scales. And maybe a "cunning" feat to get more skill points similar to toughness for hit points.
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Venture-Captain, Minnesota
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Yeah, I feel what you're saying about Kasathas. In my campaign-mode run of Dead Suns, I provided the person playing a Kasathan envoy a +2 bump to a minor stat just to even out the scales a bit.
They have a really interesting culture, but I wish they were better at being Solarians. It also does not help that Altronus was such a poorly built pregen -- he's most people's first exposure to Kasathas. Like Lau, I want to see more material that can make Kasathas shine.
I see Korasha lashuntas all the time. They make great skilled soldiers and solarians, and also are great for those who aren't yet ready to play a vesk.
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I have a Korasha Lashunta, though I've never actually gotten to play him. I think they make the best weapon solarians especially after Soulfire became legal.
Kasatha's frustrate me to no end. I really want to love them, but I feel like their lore really fails to match their stat array and it becomes difficult to do. It's like at one point Solarians were Wisdom based classes instead of Charisma and they never went back and fixed Kasatha after changing that.
The number of races for SF is over 60 and fast approaching 100. (13(CRB)+22(AA1)+10(DS)+6(PW)+5(AAT)+15(AA2)+2(SFS)=73 not including dimorphic and trimorphics like lashunta and ryphorian I think it's 85 if you count all those). We still don't know what the next rulebook is, but I suspect that by 2020 we'll be well over 100. We already know we're getting at least some genesi from DoF, and one would presume another 10-30 from AA3 (if that's happening).
For me, I really like the Alien races (scyphozoan, bantrid, astrazoan, barathu, et cetera) and the ones that fit classic tropes or are straightforward to roleplay (android, ysoki, goblin, shobhad, halfling, dwarf). Having stats that match the 'flavor' helps a lot, but isn't always necessary. I love my shirren exo-mechanic.
I'm hoping for an AA2 boon like the AA1 boon, but that it has, in addition to a couple races from AA2, more of the races from AA1 that were either never unlocked or only unlockable in certain regions.
I'd burn down a village to get to play a goblin.
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Venture-Lieutenant
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I like races that I can put a good story and personality too.
Since I GM a bit I have a bunch of the available race boons, and my most recent character I have been playing has been a human. Just because I came up with a good concept for him and so he got created.
I am much more interested in interesting mechanics or background that give me an idea for a concept.
Personally things with an intelligence penalty are bad for me, but that is more because I like to play skill heavy characters. SFS seems more skill heavy, so at least for me a more combat oriented character is boring. I do have a skittermander because I like the race and race concept, but the intelligence penalty hurts. It will only be trotted out for special circumstances.
--Chris
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I'd say that both stats and "hooks" definitely play a part. I've read the Draelik entry twice and I still couldn't tell you what their deal is, partially because their art and stats are boring, too (+Con/Wis, -2 Cha? Really? Maybe I could make a zzzzzz*snore*). Cool gear, though.
Some have good hooks but the stats don't support it. Reptoids are supposed to be good infiltrators, but their disguise ability lasts a fraction of the time of the Astrozoan's, while their text implies that many Reptoids live in disguise mode 24/7.
I have a vesk soldier, a dwarf operative/mystic, two nuar (technomancer and soldier/mechanic), and a witchwyrd envoy, and all of the races have really solid abilities for their character concepts. I'm not sure I would bother with a race that didn't mechanically support my concept unless I was bored with all of the effective options.
All that said, I have a concept for Crash Honda, a kasatha Daredevil operative that uses his Intelligence penalty to make sure that he gets the most use out of the Spacefarer trait and Operative Exploit that are both named Jack of All Trades. Haven't played him, though.
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While I realize there is a perceptual issue from previous systems, Stat bumps are nearly irrelevant in Starfinder. With stat penalties being the only real difference. And if you are planning on bringing any Stat penalty up to at least 0, then it becomes completely irrelevant.
Regional Venture-Coordinator, Appalachia
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My experience with Lashunta is that people immediately gravitate to the Damaya as some kind of "space elf" while the Koratha are sort of harder to grasp.
People gravitate to the races with interesting and flavorful options. People love the Shirren - freedom loving bug hippies who are good luck? There's a lot to play with there.
Ysoki same deal - those cheekpouches really grab people.
I have seen the Kasatha treated with fairly extreme disinterest as well. 4 arms isnt nearly as useful as it feels like it should be.
Meanwhile something not mentioned above - people are thirsting for after Dead suns is a playable eoxian race - perhaps some kind of ghoul off-shoot? I sort of expect there will be a thirst for Azlanti Star Empire material after ATAT too.
I think choice in how races are presented in published material is important and they seem to be taking an audience familiarity with the core races as for granted here as they do in Pathfinder and like... I really wish they wouldnt. Aside from Android people really don't bring a lot of pre conceived notions to the table about say Shirren or Vesk or especially Kasathans who draw on very obscure and paizo specific lore that no one is buying into yet.
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While I realize there is a perceptual issue from previous systems, Stat bumps are nearly irrelevant in Starfinder. With stat penalties being the only real difference. And if you are planning on bringing any Stat penalty up to at least 0, then it becomes completely irrelevant.
Mostly...
With your species stat bumps you're locked into "spending" 2 points on each of your species stats and have an opportunity to dump a stat. So while not having a strength bonus for your melee beatstick is irrelevant, "losing" 2 points to say charisma or wisdom hurts if you weren't planning on putting points there.
But you're right that it doesn't burn up as many points as pathfinder where you lose a quarter of your character points by getting an 18 instead of a 16 if you don't have a stat bonus. Even a Ysoki can start with an 18 strength without it hurting TOO much.
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I have five characters in SFS, when building them, i tried to create an interesting backstory for each of them, and tried to emphasize their races-
A human envoy/soldier based off Malcolm Reynolds from Firefly- so he's an outlaw with a swagger and chip on his shoulder, and moral compass.
Second character was from the alien archive boon- a Wrickreechee Technomancer, who wants to help his species advance to not be tech-dependent to interact with other species. I know i could have gone mechanic, but felt like playing this as a technomancer.
I liked the flavor of the race. The other races on the Alien Archive boon really didn't click for me. The Beratho, being the tier-2 race [needed 12 games played, vs the Wrickreechee 6] didn't appeal to me. my friend ended up making a Beratho Soldier lovingly dubbed the "combat dirigible" named phbbbbbbbbbt.
third sat for a while, but an Android "defender" Soldier was created.
Her backstory is more comical- as she believes her soul came from a spar-bot that held off pirates while the crew escaped a crippled vessel.
Peni Spartina
Fourth was another race boon from a convention- a Verthani Mechanic. the idea of the Caste system the Verthani had, helped me create a "pure one" that wants to augment himself but if restricted to, so he aims to create a robot army to supplement his forced beliefs.
The other race on that boon, were the Kalo. where as "space mantas" would have been interesting- but I couldn't come up with a good backstory for a possible character, or how to make the class selection make sense. so i went with the Verthani.
Fifth is a race boon from a certain scenario- a Sarcesian Operative. no real backstory with this guy- his name is literally "lackey" - a mercenary commanded by his superiors for a "secret stealth" mission- to observe the Starfinder society.
I have a Skittermander Solarian/Soldier running through the Dead Suns AP...
i liked that Starfinder introduced a plethora of alien races; though i wasn't much of a fan of rapidly introducing some of the legacy races through scenario boons.
Honestly, a lot of it comes down to aesthetics to me. For example, while the Kasatha make for the perfect Hit and Run soldier, their 4-armed Conehead look doesn’t really appeal to me. Vesk, on the other hand though... I’m not usually one for tanky types mechanically, but they look slick! (Not to mention the sexual dimorphism involving vibrant coloration is really neat.) And let’s not forget Skittermanders and the more recent Vlaka. Stats be darned, I want to find a way to make a fun character out of them. (Which also reminds me, I’ve been kinda out of the loop for a bit as of late. Which races, if any, from AA2 are Society legal, and do they require boons?)
I also have a soft spot for humans and the legacy races, since they are what I really specialize in drawing art for. XD
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The dwarf is probably one of the most mechanically strong legal races. The - to Cha and free Adv weap training makes it quite strong. That said, I think that, unfortunately Aasimar and Tiefling, hold near the top ranking for mechanical strength. Their elemental resistances without spending resources is very strong.
All of that said...
My ysoki mechanic was a very fun rp. Though his eccentric mechanic concept wasn't the most original.
With a boon I then built a halfling sniper (soldier). This was more mechanics than rp, Though with the Divine boon in Pact Worlds I got to add flavor just in time to have a Second Seekers agent with some secrets.
With a boon I got in 2017, I finally decided on building a Sarcesian. I decided this when the AA 1 came out and was mortally offended by the alternate Haan art. To me it just looked supremely foolish. After deciding on a Sarcesian (and refusing to build an Operative), I settled on a soldier (bombard) that was going to wear power armor in the future (to solve the str problem). I built the rp after reading the Pact World section on the Diaspora. Expounding even more when the scenario came out (of which I definitely played with him).
My next race decision came when I received the GenCon 2018 race boon. It was between a Khizar (which seemed interesting) and a race that looked like an inflatable punching toy. So again I chose based on art. I am semi glad I did. I say semi because the Khizar is playing Starfinder hard mode. Khizar cannot see. They have blindsense (vibration) 30 ft and blindsight (lifesight) 30ft. Also it felt right at the time to make it a Xenodruid Mystic. By the way datapads, displays, starship most things, and anything in the distance requires a sense of sight. I love it, but it is rough. (FYI I have been in the gunner's seat once during starship combat thus far.)
At that point I had played a mechanic, soldier, soldier, and mystic. I decided I was going to play one of every class (putting Operative off like the plague).
My next characters in the works will likely be...
An Elf scholar technomancer because that just felt right. Magic and stuff.
A Half-Orc Corporate Agent Envoy. This was something that I was inspired to do after playing the Apostae scenario and when the Pact Worlds book came out. A Zaeizerer salesman seemed amusing, then the PW book came out with the Corporate Agent theme made it more perfect. This was followed finally by Armory with the manufacturer options as well as Coordinated Reload (a new Envoy option). It just has to happen now.
Lastly (before resigning myself to an Operative), I got the option to play a Copaxi. With the lore of that race it was a perfect fit to making a Solarian. I still haven't made it because I haven't quite figured out personality, but I'm pretty excited.
I still am undecided on how I will build the Operative. Maybe a race or race boon will fall into my lap that just makes sense like the Copaxi was to Solarian.
Starfinder Society Developer
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(just want y'all to know I've not forgotten!)
It does BEAR repeating.
(Get it? Because AA2 has BEARS!)
Just because of this comment, I'm only printing off one uplifted bear boon. I'll bring it to GenCon 2019, demand the entire room line the outer walls in a big rectangle. Then declare the sheet is hidden somewhere in the Sagamore ballroom.
What could possibly go wrong? :)
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(just want y'all to know I've not forgotten!)
It does BEAR repeating.
(Get it? Because AA2 has BEARS!)
Just because of this comment, I'm only printing off one uplifted bear boon. I'll bring it to GenCon 2019, demand the entire room line the outer walls in a big rectangle. Then declare the sheet is hidden somewhere in the Sagamore ballroom.
What could possibly go wrong? :)
The banners SHOULD hold up against the geeks that can make the climb checks...
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(just want y'all to know I've not forgotten!)
It does BEAR repeating.
(Get it? Because AA2 has BEARS!)
Just because of this comment, I'm only printing off one uplifted bear boon. I'll bring it to GenCon 2019, demand the entire room line the outer walls in a big rectangle. Then declare the sheet is hidden somewhere in the Sagamore ballroom.
What could possibly go wrong? :)
Just a fair warning, this will probably result in lawsuits.
My next character is going to be an Uplifted Bear Lawyer named Legal SideBEAR.
(we really need a laywer theme)
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We all know about the right to bear arms... Now we get to arm bears.
Thurston, I think that idea could get a little grizzly.
Hmm
He's just going to Pooh-Pooh that issue. I think you are Pandarian to the masses. Just a big hub-Baloo, the Polar opposite. You should take up Yogi so you can calm down, Hmm.
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Venture-Agent, Netherlands—Utrecht
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My way of choosing a race is mainly a combination of whether it fits the flavour of what I'm trying to make, and if its stats are beneficial to my build. I've seen several Vesk Technomancers, but personally, I would at least want a stat-neutral race for my main stat.
Lore is important for flavour, and I'd rather go for quirky/interesting above quality or quantity. I'd say Skittermanders are so popular because they have a good amount of flavour (both history-wise and race-wise), combined with a great aesthetic. I'd say my characters' aesthetic weren't important in their choice of race, but Skittermanders are just awesome in their visual design. I was initially also very drawn to Shirrens because they looked so different, and their backstory was pretty cool as well, for example.
I'm personally pretty excited to play something that has a non-humanoid shape. Ghibrani are pretty cool, but they still basically walk on legs and have arms and a head. I want full-on weirdness. I want to say, "how does that even work?" A Barathu is basically a flying shrimp that can somehow wield a rocket launcher, and that's awesome. I've heard Alien Archive 2 has a few more weird concepts I'd love to try out as well.
So, basically, races can be interesting along different axes, but they need to be in a specific combination to be truly worth playing.