INFOSPHERE TROLLS

Haunting the servers and nodes of the Pact Words, the cunning infosphere troll is a vile creature of brutish cruelty. Though less physically impressive than their technically challenged kin, they share the touchstone violent nature of most trolls. The infosphere troll focuses its innate temper into assaults on decency, antagonizing foes through deeply intense personal taunts, often to the point of provoking a vicious response.

Many infosphere trolls have channeled their talents into a lucrative career, organizing into covert cells to run smear campaigns against their assigned targets. Their seemingly supernatural empathic abilities lend them a cruel empathy, allowing them to infer exactly what to say to maximize emotional damage to their marks. But don’t confuse this understanding of the emotions of others as true empathy - infosphere trolls experience no remorse, only glee, in delivering their callous words. 

Cunning enough to realize that their verbal attacks often provoke their targets to track them down, infosphere trolls have been known to form loose gangs of a variety of types of troll, seeking shelter and protection from their larger brethren. When they sense an attack coming, infosphere trolls have been known to stage ambushes against their victims, taking the choicest gear for themselves to sell on the black market. Still others, considered a more devious sub-type, work with unscrupulous attorneys to provoke their victims to the point where they post a “clear and present danger” to the trolls, then sue their agitated victims for exorbitant amounts of credits, all the while defending their antagonizing rhetoric as “just a joke” or “free speech.”

Infosphere Troll

CR 5

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XP 1,600

Giant envoy

CE Large humanoid (giant)

Init +2; Senses blindsense 60 ft., darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +16

DEFENSE

HP 65 RP 4

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EAC 17; KAC 18

Fort +4; Ref +6; Will +8

Defensive abilities regeneration 5 (acid or fire)

OFFENSE

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Speed 30 ft.

Melee advanced sword cane +12 (1d4+5 P; critical bleed 1d4)

Ranged sheet lightning pistol +10 (1d6+5 E)

STATISTICS

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

Skills Bluff +16, Computers +16, Culture +11, Diplomacy +16, Intimidate +16, Perception +16, Sense Motive +16, Stealth +11

Languages Common

Other abilities envoy improvisations (get ‘em, quick dispiriting taunt)

Gear business stationwear, advanced sword cane, sheet lightning pistol, tier 2 software Imp, datapad

SPECIAL ABILITIES

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Infosphere Taunting (Ex) Infosphere trolls are gifted antagonists and provocateurs, and often use their computer skills to find out what insults will most upset an intended target and bully them well before meeting face-to-face. If a creature has a presence on local infospheres (professional contacts, vid channels, social media accounts, etc.), an infosphere troll can use the intimidate skill to attempt to demoralize a creature through those social media accounts. If the infosphere troll succeeds, the creature is not demoralized; instead, an infosphere troll can reference the previous insult to a creature within 60 feet as a swift action. The foe is off-target and takes a –2 penalty to all skill checks for 1 round, or until it makes an attack against you, forces you to attempt a saving throw, or damages you (whichever comes first). Once an infosphere troll has used infosphere taunts on a foe, that foe is immune to this ability for 24 hours. This is a language-dependent ability.

SKITTERFAN

There were no artistically-inclined skittermanders available (or perhaps willing) to help with this rendering, so our poor social media internmander Ken had to knock this juvenile rendering during his lunch break.

No species in the Pact Worlds has managed to earn the fame and notoriety enjoyed by the Skittermanders of Vesk-3. These furry, “helpful” six-armed creatures have rocketed into the cultural zeitgeist in recent years as the residents of the Veskarium began exploring the Pact Worlds. To the annoyance of many vesk, skittermanders have become the unofficial mascot of the Veskarium, a development that has both alarmed xenoanthropologists and delighted their helpful, if apathetic, new friends.

One of the most confusing aspects of the skittermanders’ rapid ascent to celebrity status is the loose collective of skittermander enthusiasts who have dedicated their lives to emulating the species’ trademark frenzied helpfulness in their own lives - often to the chagrin of their friends and families.

Theme Knowledge (1st)

You have read all you can find about skittermanders - biology, history, psychology, and everything in between. Reduce the DC of Culture or Life Science checks to recall knowledge about Vesk-3 or skittermanders by 5. Diplomacy 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 Diplomacy checks. In addition, you gain an ability adjustment of +1 to Charisma at character creation.

Making Nu-friends (6th)

Your persistent cheerfulness makes it easy for you to make friends and influence people. You can spend twice the normal amount of time when using Diplomacy to change a creature’s attitude. If you do, you may roll twice and take the better result.

Helping Hands (12th)

You possess a preternatural ability to provide aid to your allies at a dizzying pace. As a swift action, you can use the aid another, covering fire, or harrying fire actions; you cannot benefit from the aid another or harrying fire actions yourself. Once used, you cannot use this ability again until you spend 1 Resolve Point to regain Stamina Points after a 10-minute rest.

You’re Helping! (18th)

There is nearly nothing that energizes you as much as providing assistance to your friends and allies. Up to twice a day, when you use the aid another action and the check succeeds, you regain 1 Resolve Point.

CHAUNCEY'S RENKRODA

The Chauncey's renkroda is staring intently at the photographer's lighting stand; immediately after this photo, the renkroda shorted out the photographer's environmental protections and absconded with the light in the confusion.

Castrovel is famous for its unique wildlife and global commitment to conservation, due in large part to the number of colorful and ferocious endemic species that call the jungle planet home. One of the most memorable species lives on the rainforest continent of Ukulam; a small, omnivorous dinosaur of exceptional beauty. Officially named Chauncey’s renkroda, but known colloquially as the jeweled renkroda, the names are interchangeable and vary depending on where you discuss the species. Recently discovered records revealed that the species was academically catalogued by a pre-Gap Golarian explorer who took the opportunity to name the species after himself. While pressure has steadily grown to re-nativize the species name, the academic community has yet to respond to the calls to action.

In pre-technological and traditionalist communities, jeweled renkroda have been kept as partially-tamed game animals for millennia, with the creatures serving as trash disposal, living decoration, and occasional meal. For their part, the renkrodas not only enjoy the plethora of food scraps left behind, but seem to revel in their role as (mostly) harmless tricksters - and villages and explorers alike provide a constant source of entertainment for the little dinosaurs.

One of this renkroda’s most unique characteristics is a bioelectrical aura that disrupts nearby technological devices. A jeweled renkroda can cause communication devices to spontaneously engage, energy pistols to randomly discharge, and any number of other electromechanical mishaps. The fearless (or clueless) creatures will often use this to their advantage, turning an unsuspecting adventurer’s camp into a maelstrom of technological chaos while the renkrodas abscond with food and shiny pieces of metal - frequently weapons, knives, or toolkits.

He smol, He purple, He stole Da earple

Across the continent, the omnivorous Jeweled Renkroda has adapted to fill almost every niche in the food chain, with some even serving as pollinators and seed-carriers for various plant life. While all jeweled renkrodas are opportunistic feeders, studies have shown that individuals have clear preferences for certain types of food, such as fruits, carrion, insects, or smaller vertebrates. Some of the most daring and aggressive creatures will flock together to hunt larger fauna, their camaraderie lasting only as long as it takes to bring down their quarry.

Their small size leaves them vulnerable to predation, and the jeweled renkroda is a favored mark for mid-sized predators and carnivorous flora. Though they are quick and canny, they are easily distracted by bright or colorful objects and will disregard their personal safety for the promise of such a prize. The jeweled renkroda’s most dangerous predator, a carnivorous fruit bush, has evolved to exploit this weakness, luring the creatures with low-hanging, brightly-colored fruit. The plant’s victim then falls into the acidic digestive pits that lie hidden beneath the tangle of roots.

Chauncey's Renkroda

CR 1

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XP 400

CN Small animal

Init +4; Senses low-light vision, darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +5

Aura bioelectrical aura (30 ft.)

DEFENSE

HP 17

---

EAC 11; KAC 12

Fort +3; Ref +3; Will +4

Resistances electricity 2

OFFENSE

---

Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft.

Melee bite +6 (1d4+1 P)

Ranged static zap +4 (1d4+1 E)

STATISTICS

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Str +0; Dex +4; Con +0; Int -4; Wis +2; Cha +1

Skills Acrobatics +10, Athletics +5, Sleight of Hand +5, Stealth +10, Survival +10

SPECIAL ABILITIES

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Bioelectrical Aura (Ex) Any technological device with an item level of 2 or less has a 25% chance of behaving erratically when within 30 feet of a Chauncey’s Renkroda. Roll a D4 on the following table to determine the effect.

D4	Bioelectrical Aura Effect
1	The device gains an electrical charge; any creature touching the item takes 1d4+1 damage (Reflex save DC 12 for half damage).
2	The device overrides manual control. Weapons take a -2 penalty to attacks as they trigger independently; non-weapon items turn on and have effects based on GM discretion.
3	The device shorts out safety precautions; add 1d4 to any damage dealt by the item for one round. Double the amount of charges used for one round.
4	The device overloads; it doesn’t function for one round.

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Alright, we promised some announcements for this month, so I guess we need to hold to that?

First off, those discerning eyes amongst you may have noticed that the accompanying art for this month’s blog post is, how shall we say it… way less “made with Paint and a pint of whiskey” than our usual visual tripe. That’s all thanks to the talented artistic rendering of Savannah Hensley! Savannah really captured the adorable mischievousness of the jeweled renkrodas, and we couldn’t be happier with the art she made for us. You can find more of her work @rockingyourstar on Instragram!

Of course, none of this wouldn’t have been done without our developer and editor taking the lead and getting us some art. That’s right - Starfinder Facts now has Natalie Kertzner officially providing our development and editing needs! Natalie is a local EverGM, an author with multiple Paizo Starfinder credits to her name, and is the founder of BeanCity Gaming, Inc., a non-profit organization hosting a new charity mini-convention in the Boston region this September. Her experience and creativity has been invaluable for us as we make plans for our next big project, while keeping the Starfinder Facts train a-rollin’!

Now, those of you who have been paying attention may have noticed that Starfinder Facts was working to produce our very own scenario, working under the Summer 2019 RPG Writer’s Workshop session. The nice thing about working under a series of escalating deadlines was the lovely whooshing sound they made as they flew by - but we still got a lot of content created, even if it isn’t quite ready for public consumption yet. We’re excited to announce that we’re currently creating a separate publishing entity, Bearly Factual Productions, in order to branch out from the Community Use projects that we’ve been producing and instead create commercial projects under the Open Game License, with our first scenario already underway!

“Oh no!,” you may gasp, “does this mean that I’m going to be paywalled away from the absurd content that I have come to rely upon and crave??” No, dear reader, that is not what this means - what it means is that we’ll be expanding the variety and scope of content that we’re creating in order to give ourselves (and the community!) more opportunities to grow our shared hobby. There’s some big plans in the works that we’re not ready to announce yet, but if you’re interested in seeing what we do when we aren’t making elaborate jokes with attached statblocks, please give us a follow at our OGL home - the newly announced Bearly Factual Productions! We look forward to providing even more Starfinder content for you all!

STALDORF AND WATLER

Already the Mouse Drones are closing in on my location. “Parody is protected speech!” I futilely yell as I struggle against the brightly-colored manacles. The drones prepare to drag me off to the Reimagineering Complex for re-education on the Importance Of Intellectual Property.

Sometimes, you hire bounty hunters in order to get the job done. 

Sometimes you hire bounty hunters in order to send a message.

And sometimes, the bounty hunters will do both -  whether you want them to or not.

Staldorf and Watler are old hands at the bounty hunting game - in fact, they’re quite old, both in terms of human lifespan and in terms of still being bounty hunters. Known for their acerbic wit, the pair have spent many years hunting fugitives and wanted criminals, long after many bounty hunters have found themselves quiet retirements or shallow graves. Despite the rather handsome rewards their quarries often fetch, the real prize for Staldorf and Walter is in the banter that stems from the savage verbal roasting of their prisoner, both while in pursuit of them, and when the prisoner is stashed in the cargo hold on their return voyage. For this reason, they prefer to take their targets alive - after all, dead bounties are just not a good an audience for their witty wordplay.

In combat, Staldorf tends to hold enemies at bay with his surprisingly adept swoop hammer technique, while Watler taunts them and lays down fire with his rifle. The two old codgers often riff off of each other to lampoon their opponents, punctuating their mockery with hearty belly laughs.

Some taunts from the pair:

“Wait now - you wouldn’t hit an old geezer like me!”
“Nah - it’s that they couldn’t hit an old geezer like you!”

“Well, you look like a competent group of adventurers!”
“Just goes to show you how deceiving looks can be!”

“Your reputation’s given you a nice large bounty!”
“Good thing our client can’t see what a mess you are or they’d be lowering the price as we speak!”

“I think there’s something wrong with your laser!”

“Yeah - typically, they’re supposed to hurt when they hit!”

“Hey, great shot!”
“Well, a good shot.”
“I mean, it hit me.”
“But you’re still up!”
“That’s true, not a kill shot.”
“Basically a sunburn!”
“Might as well have missed!”
“What a terrible shot!”

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Staldorf

CR 5

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XP 1,600

Male human envoy

CN Medium humanoid (human)

Init +2; Senses darkvision; Perception +17

DEFENSE

HP 65 RP 4

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EAC 17; KAC 18

Fort +4; Ref +6; Will +8

OFFENSE

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Speed 30 ft.

Melee tactical swoop hammer +12 (1d10+5 B; critical knockdown)

Ranged wave modulator ii +10 (1d6+5 F OR So)

STATISTICS

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

Feats Advanced Melee Weapon Proficiency

Skills Bluff +17, Computers +12, Culture +12, Diplomacy +17, Intimidate +17, Perception +17, Sense Motive +17, Stealth +12

Other abilities envoy improvisations (get ‘em, clever attack)

Gear business stationwear, tactical swoop hammer, wave modulator II

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Watler

CR 5

---

XP 1,600

Male human envoy

CN Medium humanoid (human)

Init +2; Senses darkvision; Perception +17

DEFENSE

HP 65 RP 4

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EAC 17; KAC 18

Fort +4; Ref +6; Will +8

OFFENSE

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Speed 30 ft.

Melee medium sap +10 (1d6+5 B)

Ranged standard surgecaster +12 (1d10+5 E; critical arc 1d10)

STATISTICS

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

Skills Bluff +17, Engineering +12, Intimidate +17, Medicine +12, Perception +17, Sense Motive +17, Stealth +12

Feats Longarm Proficiency

Other abilities envoy improvisations (not in the face, quick dispiriting taunt)

Gear business stationwear, medium sap, standard surgecaster

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Once again, we'd like to give special thanks for the excellent Starfinder Monster Builder found at https://sfrpgtools.com/monster-builder  for taking the hard formatting work out of these blog posts.