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Meet the Stellifera...
Ability Modifiers +2 Wis, +2 Cha, -2 Con, -4 Str
Hit Points 2
Size Diminutive.
Average Height 1 ft.
Average Weight 6 lbs.
land speed of 5 feet.
swim speed of 30 feet.
No arms or hands to hold anything.
can’t breathe air.
Reading this far if you had a party of four Stellifera it looks like we're set up for a TPK at the mission briefing in the lore spire meeting room. But Stelliferas have a trick to fix all of that. The Hydrobody! A psychokinetically constructed watery humanoid-shaped body, that the Stellifera uses as a walking fish tank.
While within a hydrobody:
Strength score 4 higher.
2 additional Hit Points.
land speed of 30 feet.
The ability to wield weapons and,
wear clothing and armor as a Medium creature.
Takes the bleed effect from only a wound or severe wound critical hit effect.
Immune to gases and inhaled poisons.
Gains a +4 racial bonus to Fortitude saving throws,
Against diseases and poisons of the contact or injury types.
Breathe as if he were underwater.
Immune to most effects of vacuum as well as atmospheric or underwater pressure.
Go 1 hour without oxygen exchange from their surroundings.
That's one tough cuttlefish. If you use one of the alternative methods for generating character abilities without using the racial Modifiers, it's one of the toughest and strongest species in Starfinder to the point of being near broken.
Stellifera first appeared in part 2 of Against the Aeon Throne.
Now to pick a class for my Stellifera. I'm thinking Witchwarper, A psychokinetically constructed watery humanoid-shaped body seems like a Witchwarper kind of thing.
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I share your love of stellifera - Team Cephalopod all the way! I was a bit bummed that they didn't get a write-up in Interstellar Species; I really thought the species's weirdness would make them a shoe-in for fan favourite. Still, very cool. I have a Society stellifera witchwarper that I adore, so I can vouch for that route being fun!
One choice that I feel a lot of people overlook with stellifera is what 'scale' you want your equipment to be in: Medium stuff to be used by the waterbody, or Diminutive stuff to be used by the stellifera itself. Equipment and Armour can be sized for whatever creature size and anatomy at no cost, so it's really up to you on if you want your armour to be Diminutive (to fit on the stellifera) or Medium (to fit on the waterbody.) Weapons are a bit trickier, though: weapons built for sizes smaller than Small cost double, and while it's useable with no minuses by Dim creatures, it still weighs the same, which means it can be tricky using Bulkier weapons, if you're a Str-challenged little cuttlefish. I personally think it's worth it to pay double to have a wepaon that's useable at Dim scale: a 1 ft long, 6 lbs, cuttlefish can infiltrate areas that even a Small creature might not be able to, and being able to go in with arms & armour is obviously a good idea. It's actually come up at least once in Society play that I've seen. Slap some x-legs or a speed suspension on that fish body, and you're ready to go!
Re: alternate stats - I think the -4 Str that's removed when Water Body is active is a big balancing point for the species, so even if you did some kind of alternate stat generation, that part should stay - otherwise, like you said, the little psychic cuttlefish can get pretty broken.
Agreed, Against the Aeon Throne 2 is a great adventure! Outpost Zed is a really fun "stranger in a strange land" piece. I've love to see more of the Xaarbs :D
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It's too bad the Xaard is not a playable species. That gives me an idea. I'll start a new thread for that.
The rule for Diminutive weapons says, "Weapons can be built for use by smaller creatures but generally cost twice as much. (since they require special miniaturization technology)" So I'd assume non-tech weapons could be made at cost. But a diminutive club would be the size of a pencil.
If I'm reading this right, "While within a hydrobody, a stellifera has a Strength score 4 higher" That's not a bonus. It's just 4 higher, so it would not count against stacking with any other type of strength bonus. It's also not your base stat, so with an alternative ability creation method not using the -4 penalty, you could start with an 18 strength without the hydrobody. So either you end up with a 22 strength or have to reapply the -4 penalty to not exceed 18 at first level.
For a non tech sword doing full sword damage you'd need like, ultra dense tungsten instead of steel or something. So it would still cost twice as much. I'm not sure where the exception to generally is but i dont think its that broad.
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Besides cost, availability might be an issue. If you're the only diminutive size playable species In starfinder and your species is alien to the Pact worlds. Then even on Absalom station, it would be hard to find diminutive weapons on the shelf, without making a special order.
Diminutive size weapons might only be usable when not using a hydrobody. Your reach might not make it outside the hydrobody, and shooting from inside your hydrobody is kind of like shooting from inside a flexible fish tank, not a good thing.
Everything in starfinder can be print on demand, so if you have abucket of upbs and a workbench on your ship that's not a limitation