Xenometric Androids and Versatile Heritages

[Sean_Powell]

I'm very much interested in a SF 2ed because I enjoy playing 'crossover' type games because of the fish out of water amusement factor but also because myself and other local players sometimes remember a rule X but it was only X in a different system.

I was looking through the Field test and reading the Android race. There is no longer an option for Xenometric Android which I feel is disappointing as I had androids figure heavily in a home campaign (A BBG was vat-growing Androids to mimic specific politicians and industry leaders to take over a company -> country -> planet -> system -> universe -> Multiverse.)

Anyway, the thought hit that Paizo missed the opportunity for Android to be a Versatile Heritage like Tiefling or Oread. Androids are not written as breeding with any other races BUT all sentient races that trade technology above a certain point would be capable of creating androids in their own image. If versatile heritages exist because they intermingle with other races then it's not particularly logical for Elves to create an android to mimic an elven tiefling and if they did in all likelihood the tiefling features would be cosmetic or addressable with 'adopted ancestry'.

I understand that Paizo needed to make their Starfinder android compatible with their Pathfinder android (Which is GREAT!) and they probably didn't consider the option of a human-android in Numeria might actually be the only yasoki-android from the original crash. Missed opportunity. The benefit to Android as a variable heritage is that each time a (non construct) intelligent races is added to the Starfinder universe the Android doesn't need to be errataed for a new xenometric form. There might even be androids of privative races that can not create their own if other sentients wanted to send observers/infiltrators without disclosing their existence.

Before I attempt to homebrew an Android Versatile Heritage and try to make it as close as possible to the 2E remastered Android Heritage when applied to a Human, has anyone:

1. Previously done this and I'm wasting my time?
2. Got any suggestions?
3. Got any watch outs?
4. Want to help?

Thanks in advance.

[WatersLethe]

I think making Androids their own ancestry is appropriate. Versatile Heritages are great, but they're limited in scope. They're not equivalent to a Class Archetype which can make structural changes to the Class, Versatile Heritages are a bolt-on that makes sense when talking about biological or magical gene-mixing.

Essentially, Android as Versatile Heritage would further limit the mechanical impact of being an Android and we're already seeing at least some dissatisfaction with the tradeoffs being proposed for the SF1 to SF2 transition.

I think you're far better off making a Xenometric android heritage and plugging it into the Android chassis until Paizo gets around to publishing their own version (which they said they plan on). That's the cleanest solution in terms of continuity anyway.

[Zoken44]

I agree Xenometric Android would work better as an android heritage, part of which works like an inverted "Adopted Ancestry" feat where you can pick from physical aspects of other ancestries, but not the cultural ones.

[Bardo997]

In the blog post about the field test Thurston Hillman wrote that the devs were interested of adding a Xenometric Android as a versatile heritage in future products. So both of them will be available waiting some time.
I’m not able to link it, but it was on the first page of comments

[Finoan]

I'm still expecting this to be handled more like the PF2 Skeleton ancestry - where it has Heritage options to change the size and shape (Compact Skeleton and Monstrous Skeleton) and level 1 feat options to give more of the target ancestry features (As in Life, So in Death).

[Sean_Powell]

Bardo997 wrote:

In the blog post about the field test Thurston Hillman wrote that the devs were interested of adding a Xenometric Android as a versatile heritage in future products. So both of them will be available waiting some time.

I’m not able to link it, but it was on the first page of comments

Someone linked to the thread on Reddit. I'm sharing it here to close the loop. Thank you for your help.

https://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo6sih6?Field-Test-3-That-Cantina-Fe el#9