automaton ancestry

[xenoterracide]

While you could change the name of this Pathfinder 2 ancestry it seems like a weird exclusion. Maybe I want to play R2-D2 or IG-11 like characters. I imagine there will be many many new ancestories released over time but this one feels kind of core to a Sci-Fi experience.

[GameDesignerDM]

SRO's exist in Starfinder and are playable in 1E, but were never a core choice. I could see them coming in whatever book the Mechanic and Technomancer release in.

[xenoterracide]

It feels like this should be fundamental to me! But that's just my take on it.

I get why a technomancer might not be a core option. Is a mechanic a class? Seems like an odd specialization, maybe it could work better as a background...

I do understand not throwing everything into the playtest. But, on the other hand, feedback is crucial.

I'm just someone who wanted a sci-fi setting without having to convince my friends to pick up yet another new system.

[moosher12]

Also important to stress that an automaton follows very different rules than an SRO. An Automaton is a person whose soul was implanted in a constructed body, not just a robot. While an automaton can be expanded to have souls that are more than just human ones, the point is that they house a sentient creature's soul to be its controller.

Which is to say, an Automaton is a poor fit for an R2-D2 type. As an automaton simply does not work like that, and would have to be reflavored on top of renamed.

A distinct ancestry that is an awakened or otherwise high intelligence construct, like the Hologram or SRO, is more fitting for your use case.

[GameDesignerDM]

xenoterracide wrote:

I get why a technomancer might not be a core option. Is a mechanic a class? Seems like an odd specialization, maybe it could work better as a background...

Yeah, it's a class. Both Technomancer and Mechanic were core classes in 1E, but are being held for a book coming out in 2026, with a playtest starting early next year.

[Finoan]

I certainly think it should be possible to play as a fully construct character like the SRO ancestry. And I'm sure it will be available eventually. Probably fairly quickly.

I don't think it should be core. Not because it isn't a common thing to have.

It is likely to be delayed from initial release because it will take more effort from the devs to balance the traits and ancestry mechanics so that the construct characters play and feel like constructs, but don't overpower challenges by being immune or resistant to a lot of the things used for those challenges.

I also expect that such ancestries are going to be Uncommon or Rare so that the GM is not required to have such ancestries in their game if the tone of the game is not suitable, or if the GM doesn't have enough system mastery to handle their specific non-standard PC mechanics.

[Driftbourne]

"Only two parts of an SRO seem integral to their sense of self: their positronic brain and their healing circuits." Neither of these have to have an effect on their appearance, so an SRO could be just about any non android like robotic looking character from almost any movie, or any droid in Star Wars. Having heritages in SF2e will add even more variations for SROs.

I hope we get SROs sooner then later, but you can't put all 140 SF1e species in the core rule book. The book with the Technomancer and Mechanic seems like a good place for SROs.

Just in case anyone doesn't know what SRO stands for its, Sentient Robotic Organism.

[keftiu]

Androids are the core synthetic option.

[Trashloot]

xenoterracide wrote:

While you could change the name of this Pathfinder 2 ancestry it seems like a weird exclusion. Maybe I want to play R2-D2 or IG-11 like characters. I imagine there will be many many new ancestories released over time but this one feels kind of core to a Sci-Fi experience.

While most androids look humanoid they can basically look however you want them to look. They are a constructed body posessed by a soul (and most of the time created by some ancestry). Just keep in mind that they always have 2 arms (or grasping implements). If you want to play IG-11 you can be a regular android. You are just not trying to come across as a human. But those androids exist within Starfinder.

If you want to play as R2-D2 you can do so as well. Just remember that R2 now has 2 grasping implements and needs to breath and eat :D.