So Long, And Here's A Bunch Of Fish

Want to hear a dirty secret?

I haven’t played any Starfinder in months, and I’m not sorry.

I’m not not sorry - but it’s absence hasn’t been burning a hole in my heart. I’ve been playing other TTRPGs. I’ve been camping. I’ve been extra busy at work, because our economy is insisting on reopening despite the risks it puts our society in (DO NOT REOPEN SCHOOLS, PEOPLE, IT’S GOING TO BE BAD FOR KIDS AND WORSE FOR THE ADULTS INVOLVED). So in other words… I’ve been pretty pre-occupied.

This project was started and maintained as a labor of love, expressing my excitement about a new TTRPG that I adored. I was active in the Organized Play scene, I was inspired by the lore coming out, I was dashing ahead running the APs, and Life Was Good.

In that time, I’ve quit jobs, been fired, been promoted, gotten married, mourned the death of loved ones, watched the world catch on fire - and still always found a spare minute to squeeze out a pithy one-liner about Triaxian capitalism or starship maintenance or failing any of that, yet another hyperleaf joke. We made a minimum of one tweet a day for over two years, and maintained nearly two years of a once-a-month blog post adding new tongue-in-cheek (or even some semi-serious!) rules and lore. Sometimes we were serious, sometimes we were funny, but we always endeavored to keep it light and friendly. That's simply gotten harder to do, and we've come to the melancholy decision that it's time to stop doing it.

Today the Starfinder Facts project is coming to an end, meaning a few things:

1. The blog is officially going to be mothballed. Nearly 2 years worth of content is a pretty solid portfolio, and it will be left available and accessible to anyone who googles “starfinder hyperleaf” and checks out the third result.
   
   

2. The twitter is leaving “brand account” management and now returning to “personal account” status. What this means is I’ll use it less - we maintained 1 post minimum a day for over 2 years, and racked up over 3,700 tweets, all about Starfinder and the fanbase surrounding it. Now it’s going to become something I just do for fun, not for self-imposed metrics of productivity.

We’re not done writing, not by a long shot - there are stranger worlds than these, and darn tootin’ if we’re not going to explore them as long as we are able. If you’re interested in following on that journey, you can find my writer twitter @Curtin_Writes - you're likely to see some new project announcements sooner rather than later...

However, after such a long and fruitful project, it felt wrong to just up and go… so for the people that found this account: So long, and here’s a bunch of fish.

Not pictured due to size constraints: exactly how swole this gigantic motherfucker really is

Every few years, new stories come out of the darkest and deepest wilds of Castrovel - tales of parties being stalked through the trees by immense humanoid figures, or hushed spacer bar horror stories of unspeakably immense knots of mountain eels that reacted as one. Two things are constant across all of the reports - mountain galvos are colossal killing machines that will patiently and relentlessly hunt those that they deem as prey, and the rate of survival from a mountain galvo encounter is extremely low.

Ancient pre-Gap records indicate that the original galvos were significantly smaller, comprised of electric aquatic eels. While it's true that a mountain galvo would be even worse if it was electrified, it's a small relief, as mountain galvos retain both the hypnotic paralytic gaze of their component eels and the innate hunter instincts that make mountain eels terrifying ambush predators - and there's little more shocking than being surprised by a thirty-foot mess of snapping eels.

The reports that mountain galvos respond to the Aquan language (a language with no connection to mountain eels) raises troubling questions as to the origins of the gigantic jungle terrors, particularly about the progenitors, means, and purpose of their creation. While some suspect the continued influence of the deep-sea abberant fleshcrafters that plagued Golarion with the first galvos, others fear that the secrets originally contained to the deepest ocean trenches have been spread to new locales, and mountain galvos are only the beginning of a new wave of dangerous abominations.

Mountain Galvo                                                CR 13

XP 25,600
N Colossal magical beast
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +23

DEFENSE                                                          HP 225

EAC 27; KAC 29

Fort +17; Ref +17; Will +12

Defensive abilities swarmlike

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.

Melee bite +27 (3d12+21 P and S plus grab) or

bash +27 (3d12+21 B)

Ranged hurled elver +24 (6d6+13 P)

Space 30 ft.; Reach 30 ft.

Offensive abilities paralyzing gaze

STATISTICS

Str +8; Dex +4; Con +6; Int +0; Wis +0; Cha +0

Skills Acrobatics +23, Athletics +23, Stealth +28

Languages Aquan (can't speak)

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Paralyzing Gaze (Ex) Looking into any of a mountain galvo’s multitude of strange compound eyes causes the muscles of most living creatures to freeze up. A living creature that can see and begins its turn within 60 feet of a mountain galvo must succeed at a DC 19 Fortitude save or be paralyzed for 1 round. A creature who succeeds at its save is immune to that mountain galvo’s paralyzing gaze for 24 hours. Creatures without a sense of sight and other mountain eels are immune to this effect.

Swarmlike (Ex) A mountain galvo has no discernible anatomy, and is not subject to critical hits or flanking. It is also immune to any physical spell or effect that targets a specific number of creatures (including single-target spells such as disintegrate). Mindaffecting effects that target a single creature function normally against a mountain galvo, since the creature’s individual components share a hive mind. A mountain galvo takes half again as much damage (+50%) from effects that affect all targets in an area, such as grenades, blast and explode weapons, and many evocation spells. A mountain galvo takes normal damage from an attack or effect that affects multiple targets (including lines and fully automatic mode attacks). For the purpose of automatic fire, the mountain galvo counts as five targets. For example, if an automatic attack is made using 12 rounds of ammunition, it can attack a maximum of six targets, so it can damage a mountain galvo normally. However, if two other targets are closer to the attacker than the mountain galvo, they must be attacked first, leaving only four attacks to target the mountain galvo, so it takes no damage.

Varied Attack (Ex) A galvo’s slam attack deals both bludgeoning and slashing damage since the creature is formed completely of biting eels.

HOOLOOVOO

Artist's rendering (possibly a child artist, or a very very very old artist who is losing their facilities) of a hooloovoo fabricator.

A long time ago, in a cluster of asteroids far far away, a suddenly-sentient hyper-intelligent shade of the color blue suddenly found itself asking the important questions: How can we exist? Why do we exist? Where shall we have lunch? Once the color realized that lunch was an unnecessary concept for an incorporeal shade of blue, the third question was discarded as irrelevant, and it proceeded to work on more present problems, like what exactly it was expected to do with all of this newfound self-awareness. The name it chose for itself is roughly translatable into Common as something like “hooloovoo.”

As the hooloovoo discovered the technological advancements of biological life, they found themselves particularly adept at technomancy and engineering, taking particularly to robotics as a means to manufacture their own corporeal forms. As a result, many people’s interactions with the hooloovoo are with mechanical shells designed by the hooloovoo for specific purposes, with technomantic prismatic interfaces embedded into the operating systems so that the hooloovoo exists within and pilots its mechanical body. The fragile construction of the prisms and their interface matrix make the suits dangerously vulnerable to excessive force, so many hooloovoo take combat-avoidant strategies to avoid critical damage to their prism. Both science and magic have been unable to answer the question of what happens to a hooloovoo when the prism is fully destroyed; mystics have yet to find any traces of hooloovoo in the River of Souls, which has raised a contentious debate as to whether or not the color has a soul or can truly die, an answer that even the hooloovoo’s intellect has been unable to answer.

Hooloovoo as a species tend to disconcert corporeal life forms, as many of the foundational philosophical ideas of corporeal cultures don’t apply to something that needs a freestanding prism to be interacted with. It remains unclear whether the hooloovoo are individuals with distinct memories and personalities, or some sort of vast unequally-dispersed organism, as hooloovoo often give contradicting answers to scientists and philosophers hoping to understand the strange intelligence of the color; possibly they find the resulting confusion entertaining, or they simply do not know the own answers about the mechanics of their existence.

Hooloovoo tend to position themselves in places of advanced technological achievement, often finding work as engineers or scientists thanks to their ability to comprehend information rapidly, inhabiting specialized data prisms in order to gain knowledge. While some paranoid theories suggest that the sentient color may be related to the menacing and deadly color out of space, no tangible links have been discovered, and the hooloovoo uniformly reject the notion as corporealist discrimination.

Hooloovoo Fabricator CR 6

XP 2,400

Genderless technological mechanic

CN Medium ooze (technological)

Init +3; Senses blindsight (vibration) 60 ft., sightless; Perception +13

DEFENSE HP 80 RP 4

EAC 18; KAC 19

Fort +7; Ref +7; Will +7

Immunities Ooze immunities; Weaknesses vulnerable to critical hits, mechanical frame

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.

Melee basic spined blade +12 (1d6+6 P; critical injection dc +2)

Ranged liquidator disintegrator pistol +14 (1d10+6 A) or

swagger handcannon +14 (1d12+6 P; critical knockdown)

STATISTICS

Str +0; Dex +3; Con +2; Int +5; Wis +0; Cha +0

Skills Computers +18, Culture +18, Engineering +18, Life Science +13, Medicine +18, Mysticism +13, Physical Science +18

Languages Aklo, Common

Other abilities artificial intelligence (exocortex), custom rig, mechanic tricks (visual data processor), overload, remote hack, target tracking, wireless hack

Gear elite stationwear, basic spined blade, liquidator disintegrator pistol, swagger handcannon Mechanical Frame (Ex) When a hooloovoo is in its mechanical frame, it loses the immunity to critical hits granted by its ooze immunities.

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Hooloovoo Researcher                                                            CR 8

XP 4,800

Genderless technological technomancer

CN Medium ooze (technological)

Init +4; Senses blindsight (vibration) 60 ft., sightless; Perception +16

DEFENSE

HP 105 RP 5

EAC 19; KAC 20

Fort +7; Ref +7; Will +11

Immunities Ooze immunities; Weaknesses vulnerable to critical hits, mechanical frame

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.

Melee carbon staff +13 (1d8+8 B; critical knockdown)

Ranged wave modulator iii +15 (2d4+8 F OR So)

Offensive abilities cache capacitor 1, magic hacks (magic negation [DC 18], tech countermeasures), spell cache

Technomancer Spells Known (CL 8th; ranged +15)

3rd (3/day) - dispel magic, explosive blast (DC 20)

2nd (6/day) - caustic conversion, daze monster (DC 19), implant data, microbot assault

1st (at will) - comprehend languages (DC 18), magic missile

STATISTICS

Str +0; Dex +4; Con +0; Int +6; Wis +2; Cha +0

Skills Computers +21, Engineering +21, Life Science +16, Mysticism +21, Physical Science +21

Languages Aklo, Common

Gear advanced lashunta tempweave, carbon staff, wave modulator III

Mechanical Frame (Ex) When a hooloovoo is in it's mechanical frame, it loses the immunity to critical hits granted by its ooze immunities.

FIREBRAND

The galaxy is not a utopia. Throughout all known systems, there are hundreds of civilizations that are built on the back of injustices. Innocent people are abused, vulnerable people are marginalized, and the downtrodden are beaten by the society that should be protecting them. You have no interest in tolerating such wrongs, and you’re not content to stand by silently. You may always have been outspoken, but you have come to learn that your words are a powerful weapon: words that can carry truths that those who lead corrupt systems are afraid to hear. 

Theme Knowledge (1st Level) You are extremely well versed in how many different cultures have moved over time and the grass-roots protests and political actions that have caused these changes. Reduce the DC of Culture checks to recall knowledge about important socio-political movements and changes in cultural zeitgeists throughout documented history by 5. Intimidate  is a class skill for you, though if it is a class skill from the class you take at 1st level, you instead gain a +1 bonus to your Intimidate checks. In addition, you gain an ability adjustment of +1 to Charisma at character creation.

Motivational Speaker (6th Level) You recognize how draining, both physically and emotionally, the act of protesting can be for those who are taking part. You are a wellspring of motivation for others, encouraging them to push on through and keep fighting. Once per day, you may attempt an Diplomacy, Intimidate or Bluff skill check against a DC 14 to encourage a fatigued ally. If you pass the check, your ally is no longer fatigued.

Inspiring Anger (12th Level) The drive for positive change in society is born from years, perhaps centuries, of injustice, and your rage against the corrupt machine is a beacon to those around you. You inspire your allies onwards with your righteous anger, and cause your enemies to shrink back in shame at your biting words. When you aid another in any social-based skill check, the ally that you aid gains a +5 bonus rather than the usual +2. In addition,you reduce the difficulty of a skill check to demoralize a foe by 5, and may use either Diplomacy, Intimidate or Bluff when attempting to demoralize a foe.

March Onwards Together Until We Overcome! (18th Level) You are recognized throughout many systems for your fiery personality and uncompromising morals. Whether you are feared as a rabble-rousing troublemaker or looked up to as a leader for those who have been robbed of their voices and rights, you know the power of the right word at the right time to drive people onwards. Up to twice per day, when you spend 10 minutes performing an action that inspires your allies or makes a cautionary statement to your enemies, you can regain 1 Resolve Point. This action could be delivering a rousing speech or rallying cry, or helping others destroy a statue of a hated historical figure, or anything else appropriate at the GMs discretion. 

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If you liked the revolutionary zeal of this theme created specially for us by the talented Alison Cybe, we have two more for you - the Dissenter and the Coordinator! However, nothing good in life comes for free, so here's what you have to do (some of you may have even done this before for us!): 1.) Make a donation to Black Lives Matter. 2.) Send us a screenshot of your donation and the best e-mail for us to send your Themes Of Revolution pdf. Screenshots can be DMed to our Twitter account or sent to StarfinderFactsSPLATgmail.com

3.) Sit back and bask in the glow of doing a good thing and getting something cool from it.

LICHWARPER

Lichwarpers are among the most powerful and dangerous forms of undead, as they draw their power not only through the mastery of necromantic energies and undeath but also through careful study and manipulation of alternate realities and timelines. The unnatural lifespan of undeath combined with the expansive mindsets of a witchwarper makes these undead particularly patient, canny, and persistent foes.

Rumors posit that the first lichwarpers were bone sages who began to explore alternate realities where Eox averted the disasters that ravaged the planet. However, rather than seek ways to restore their planet, their corruption led the lichwarpers to instead seek to push those timelines down the same path, spreading the curse of undeath into realities that had otherwise avoided the extreme measures. Debate rages within fringe Pact World academia as to whether this reality’s Eox was originally beset by disaster and undeath, or whether the crisis was manufactured by another reality’s lichwarper.

The most successful lichwarpers form cabals with their alternate-reality selves, all splitting their undead essences and rebinding different beings' fragments together into specially-designed electroenchephalons that they then bring back to their own realities, effectively spreading the means to their destruction across multiple realities. Parties who seek to kill a lichwarper may find themselves fighting alternate-reality variants of the same enemy over and over again trying to destroy all of the bonded electroencephalons - or find themselves ambushed by multiple lichwarpers who have peered across realities to determine that the party poses a threat to their shared continued existences. These collectives share resources and information over different realities, making them implacable and epic foes to even the most well-prepared opponents.

Lichwarper CR 18

XP 153,600

CN Medium undead

Init +6; Senses blindsight (life) 60 ft., darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +31

DEFENSE HP 320

EAC 31; KAC 32

Fort +18; Ref +16; Will +20

Defensive Abilities fast healing 15, rejuvenation (1d8 days); Immunities Cold, electricity, undead immunities

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (average)

Melee molecular rift dueling sword +26 (10d6+18 S)

Ranged vault-class bone pistol +28 (5d8+18 C)

Offensive Abilities alternate outcome (3/day), infinite worlds (3/day), undead mastery

Spells Known (CL 18th; ranged +28)

6th (3/day) - ethereal jaunt (DC 27), summon creature

5th (6/day) - crush skull (DC 26), dismissal (level 5) (DC 26), dispel magic (greater), wall of force

4th (at will) - dimension door (DC 25), invisibility (greater) (DC 25)

STATISTICS

Str +0; Dex +6; Con -; Int +8; Wis +0; Cha +11

Skills Bluff +36, Computers +36, Mysticism +36, Sense Motive +36

Languages Common, Eoxian, Sarcesian

Other abilities unliving

Gear officer grave mantle, molecular rift dueling sword, Vault-class bone pistol

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Alternate Outcome (Su) This ability functions as the witchwarper class feature of the same name.

Infinite Worlds (Su) This ability functions as the witchwarper class feature of the same name. Because an NPC spellcaster doesn’t receive the same number of spell slots as a PC spellcaster at higher CRs, a witchwarper NPC only expend spell slots to power their infinite worlds ability for spell levels at which they receive specific numbers of spell slots per day. For spell levels they can cast at will or don’t have listed, the NPC effectively has three spell slots of each level that can only be used to power their infinite worlds ability. For example, a CR 10 witchwarper NPC effectively has three 2nd-level spell slots and three 1st-level spell slots for their infinite worlds ability. 

Rejuvenation (Su) When a lichwarper is destroyed, its electroencephalon immediately begins to rebuild the creature’s body nearby and download the lichwarper’s consciousness into it. After 1d8 days, the lichwarper wakens fully healed (albeit without any gear it left behind on its old body). For rules on electroencephalons, see the Alien Archive.

Undead Mastery (Su) As a standard action, a lichwarper can cause one undead creature within 50 feet to fall under its control as per control undead (Will DC 21 negates). This control is permanent for unintelligent undead; an undead creature with an Intelligence score can attempt an additional saving throw each day to break free. A creature that successfully saves cannot be affected again by the lichwarper's undead mastery for 24 hours. A lichwarper can control a group of undead whose total CR is no greater than twice its CR (26 for the typical lichwarper).

Dr. Starfinder

Or,

How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Deadline

Starfinder Facts began two years ago because I saw someone making up fake D&D facts and said “Well hell, I could do that.”*

Little did I know that this was going to set into motion a series of events that would lead to me waking up and going “Oh cool, I’m an author! A published author, even!” For those of you that have that same desire and dream, I’m presenting here, in no particular order, some of the lessons I’ve learned.

This is not a How-To guide, because there is no “one path” to becoming anything (especially a creative writer). I am providing my interpretation of my own path, and the advice is being provided not because it will necessarily work for you, but because it happened to work for me.

So: buckle up. We’re in for some chop.

Just Do It.

The first, most important tip: do the work, even if you don’t want to or suddenly realize that it’s hard. As someone with a creative urge, you owe it to yourself to follow through. Worst case scenario: You don’t like it and you can stop dreaming about that idea, because you now know that you don’t like that act of creation (note: this does not mean you don’t like creating. What you’ve learned is that you don’t like creating that thing in that way. This is a very different lesson). Best case scenario? You do like the work and you’ve unlocked a new aspect of yourself to explore and share. Which brings us to tip two...

If An Adventure Drops In Your Notebook, Did It Make A Sound?

Tabletop RPGs are a community exercise, even for those of us who are big ol’ introverts. Even just running your homebrew world for your gaming buddies is a valid way to share your ideas with other like-minded souls - but the more people you share your crazy-ass shit with, the better chances you’ll have of meeting the people who can open doors and help you learn how to go from Weirdo With A Twitter Account to Actually Published Freelance Author. Every person you share your crazy ideas with, in person or online, is one more person who might become a patron, a fan, or an employer. Reference what you make though, and learn the concept of an “elevator pitch” - the 10-second explanation of your high level concept instead of giving them the 10-minute-long detailed outline.

Know Your Audience

One of the first things I did when I started the Starfinder Facts Twitter account was to find all the Paizo names I could think of - not just full-time staff, but freelancers and superfans on Twitter. One of our biggest hits, the Drift Mallard blog post, was inspired by a Lu Pellazar tweet - and sending the link back to Lu wound up getting my goofy-ass work passed around the editor’s block inside Paizo. You never know where you’re going to get inspiration or what is going to take off, so pay attention to industry insiders and maybe you too can get an editor to laugh at something you made up in a 2-hour writing sprint. This also has a direct tie to:

Get By With A Little Help From Your Friends

There’s a lot that’s true: it really is about who you know. I owe a huge amount of my success to being in the right place at the right time: I met Natalie Kertzner in the local Starfinder Society Organized Play scene, who introduced me to Joe Pasini at PaizoCon 2019, who introduced me to Jason Keely, who gave me my first Starfinder assignment. But here’s where the first tip comes in: none of this would have gone anywhere without me having something to show off. Natalie and I bonded over Zigvigix/Historia-7 shipping tweets; Jason Keely opened his assignment e-mail to me with “I love your tweeters!” If you don’t put in the creative work by yourself, then people have no reason to believe you can put in the work for them - and then you have nothing to show off. IT ALL WORKS TOGETHER, PEOPLE!!

Chase Your Passions

The long and short of all of this is that your biggest strength is going to be whatever you’re passionate about. In my case, I found out after a couple of vesk jokes that I had a knack for taking the known lore to unexpected but semi-logical conclusions - or taking an absurd concept and applying rigorous logic to an insane idea. You may have a rigorous mind that’s good at the work of writing (something I lack), or have a knack for truly creative and innovative ideas (that’s not me either - I’m a better remixer than a from-scratch creator). Your talents are going to be completely different than anyone else’s, so all you can do is the work you get excited about, share it, and see who else is a part of your creative tribe.

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And that’s it - or, at least, the parts that are worth sharing. In my experience, getting published is a lot of luck, and it’s a lot of being in the right place at the right time - and putting in the work so that you’ll have what you need when you are in the right place at the right time. So keep being weird, grow your confidence in your unique brand of weirdo, and start recruiting the people who respond to that. There’s your crew, right there.

Be seeing you, space cowboys.

NEW HORIZONS

In the wild black emptiness of the Vast, the planet of New Horizons offers a seemingly idyllic oasis among the dangers of deep space. However, many suspect that underneath the charming facade lurks some dark power and unspeakable secrets.

The planet of New Horizons is the sole habitable planet in it’s solar system, and surveys indicate that the entire planet is covered by a virtually endless array of small archipelagos. The entire planet seems to be temperate and has some minor seasonal variation. The sentient population consists of a unique variety of uplifted animals, including many species that have never been recorded as uplifted variants on any other planets, and a small population of humans - though the “housing allocation” system of the planet only allows one human to live per island.

At first glance, the islands seem to lack any sort of central government, with each island being in charge of its own villagers’ happiness. The economy seems to run on a hunter-gatherer level, with much of the individual wealth being generated on a system of selling gathered sealife, flora, and insects. Despite a lack of any apparent manufacturing facilities, advanced engineering capabilities, or any sort of utility infrastructures, the villages still retain ready access to a number of consumer goods and comforts such as electricity. It is unclear whether these are shipped in from off-planet or whether there exists some sort of hidden manufacturing hub elsewhere, and many entomologists have raised concerning questions as to why tarantulas (and potentially their extracted venom) are so valuable to the shadowy markets running the economy.

The face of a raccoon one island newspaper away from yelling "Bring me pictures of Spider-Villager!"

The biggest unanswered question lies in the management of the shadowy corporation running the planet of New Horizons. The mysterious Mr. Nook, an uplifted racoon, serves as the manager and owner of the general store on literally every island, with anecdotal evidence seeming to indicate that he exists and operates on every one of the mysterious islands simultaneously. Between his Nook Inc.’s ability to manufacture goods with near-instant turnaround and the high price paid for venomous creatures, conspiracy theorists posit that the uplifted racoon may be a powerful technomancer keeping his planet docile on a drug extracted from the arachnids, or even a deific-level outsider running his rigged economy for his own nefarious reasons.

Starfinder Valentines: 2020 Edition!

Ah, Valentine's Day - one of the cultural relics that managed to survive the Gap, possibly because it was so deeply embedded into the bones of AbadarCorp that they spontaneously began putting bows on anatomically-incorrect heart-shaped boxes mid-Calistril every year. Just like last year, we're here to treat you to the behind-the-scenes look at the making of these Valentines. Enjoy!

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Orvoll here, one of the functionally-immortal shatori race, submitted us over 3000 different selfies in his application for a place on the coveted Valentine's roster, including a number of lewds that were discarded. Keep it PG-13, Orvoll! There are kids on the internet!

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We asked First Seeker Elect Eh Hadif Ko'ra Amares of Clan Tolar to submit us a caption for his Valentine appearance. We took the first line of his submission, as we found the other 4 pages (in which he enumerates and codifies the rights and responsibilities of being one's Valentine) to be a little dry.

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Thirty seconds after this picture was taken, both gifts had been thrown (still wrapped) into the fireplace, the goblin had gotten third-degree burns from trying to move a log by hand, and the skittermander was gone to the corner store for kerosene, "to help." The photographer did not survive.

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 This picture was nearly pulled after researchers discovered that the picture was actually from an announcement of execution on a particularly aggressively-run utopian colony, but no one reads the blogs anyways or does the research themselves, so we figured we could get way with it.

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Fire skeletons need love too - but their terrible grasp of consent often gets them into hot water. No means no, fire skeletons - and 12 seconds after this photo, Altronus informed them that Supernova Means Super-No.

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Izalguuns' massive underarms, large and powerful enough to serve as legs but dextrous enough to also serve as arms, have given them a small but fervent following on select corners of the, ahem, Adult Infosphere.

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No, this robot is not being made for a sex thing. Why does everyone immediately ask that question?

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 The leaking of this photo immediately ignited the OboRaia shipping community, a subset of the already-insular group of Starfinder Society groupies who maintain complex theories on who within the Society is dating whom. When we asked the pair for clarification, Obozaya made a series of incredibly vesk-y threats and Raia turned our camera drone into a sparking pile of slag - so we can confidently say that the theories have not been debunked.

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That's all folks! We here at Starfinder Facts hope you enjoy sharing these Valentines as much as we enjoyed making them. Spread some Starfinder affection, heavily utilize the #StarfinderLove hashtag, and have a day full of love and affection - starting from us to you! 💖

AUSTRALIA DAY SPECIAL: FEATURING HYBRIDIZATION

Hey, you there! Reader! Yes you! Listen up for a second!

This month we’re doing something a little different with our blog post. Here at Starfinder Facts, we love animals and nature. As such, we are completely heartbroken by the devastation of the Australian wildfires we have witnessed in the past month. Close to one billion animals have perished in the fires, many of them suffering painful deaths, and an untold number of insects have also died – crippling the Australian backbone of a healthy ecological system. The worst part is: there are still three months left in Australia’s fire season. 

In honor of Australia Day, we’ve created two pieces of content. The first one, below, is part of our standard free monthly offerings to our fans - just to remind you that we’re funny and cool and make good work - and is loosely based off of exactly how unique and wierd and fascinating Australia’s unique wildlife is.

Our second piece of content is going to be part of a unique giveaway we are doing to help Australian ecologists in the monumental task at hand. What we ask of you is to donate to the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital, take a screenshot, and send it to us (either through Twitter DMs or at StarfinderFacts@gmail.com). In exchange, we’ll send you a pdf with the art, lore, and stats of this guy, as illustrated by the wildly awesome Savannah Hensley (as seen on Instagram @rockingyourstar):

Sound good? If you’re curious to know what the plasmaroo’s whole thing is (or just want to see your player’s faces when you spin around that artwork to describe their new ally or enemy), make your donation today and we’ll send you that sweet sweet artwork and stat block.


And if that wasn’t enough to convince you: behold Hybridization, a new field of study for Biochackers!

Some biohackers study physiology and pharmacology in order to push the limits of the physical form and unlock the potential in every body. Other biohackers just really want to make duck-billed mammals that can lay eggs and put a venom sac in everything. The Hybridization field of study is perfect for any aspiring biohacker who is more interested in stingers than safety, and views body horror more as inspiration than object lesson.

Field Of Study: Hybridization

Hybridization is the study of specialized biological methods of combining two or more disparate species into a single unique lifeform. Booster: You temporarily boost a living creature’s anatomy, granting them deadly modifications to their biology. The target grows a natural weapon of your choice (claws, a bite, a stinger, a slam, or another natural weapon). The target is considered armed. They can deal 1d3 lethal damage with unarmed strikes and the attack doesn’t count as archaic. If they are 3rd level or above, they gain a unique weapon specialization with their natural weapons, allowing them to add 1–1/2 × their character level to their damage rolls for their natural weapons (instead of just adding their character level, as usual). Inhibitor: You deliver a body-warping compound into a living creature, weakening its body against attacks. Reduce any DR the creature has by 5; if the creature does not have DR, it takes a -2 penalty to its AC.

Breakthrough

You can use the following ability when you achieve the breakthrough for this field of study. Venomous Growth (Ex): As a standard action, you can create and deliver a formula that causes the target to grow venom sacs. The target’s natural weapons all automatically inject venom into the target on a successful hit. An affected creature can attempt a Fortitude saving throw (DC = 10 + half the creature’s level + their Constitution modifier) to resist the effects of the venom. On a failed save, the creature takes 1d6 damage immediately and must attempt a new Fortitude saving throw at the start of its turn each round to end the effect. Each time it fails this save, it takes an additional 1d6 damage. Effects such as remove affliction and antitoxin affect this venom as though it were a poison. At level 11, increase the damage dealt by the venom to 2d6; at level 17, increase the damage dealt by the venom to 4d6. Are you still reading? Stop reading this, go donate, and send us the screenshot so you can start giggling and gasping in child-like glee at the plasmaroo!