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

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EAC 11; KAC 12

Fort +3; Ref +3; Will +4

Resistances electricity 2

OFFENSE

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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

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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 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.

GOBLIN STARSHIPS

Space goblins are famed, or perhaps infamous, for their accidental ingenuity - able to kitbash together working lasers out of bonding tape and capacitors, but unable to grasp the idea that a gun that blows up in your face is a bug, not a feature. Their starships are no exception; whether a ship is a junkyard scrapper that they’ve made barely spaceworthy or a hijacked vessel that has been “upgraded” to their chaotic specifications, goblin starships are always a paradoxical study in how something that shouldn’t fly, can fly - right up until the entire thing makes a horrendous space kablooey.

The modifications listed below are enhancements to starship systems, and while they’re originally goblin in origin, they are suitable for any makeshift ship designs, or for foolhardy engineers with more moxie than common sense. Each modification alters a system on a ship; you cannot apply a modification to ship that does not have the relevant system.

Scrap Armor: Goblins make their ship armor out of whatever they have at hand - or whatever they can quickly appropriate. While this makes their ships seem heavily armored for their price, the makeshift armor is quickly demolished by starship-grade weapons. Reduce the BP cost of scrap armor by the Mk of the armor plus the size modifier of the ship - this cannot reduce the cost of armor for the ship below 1. Each time a ship with scrap armor takes critical damage, reduce the ship’s armor bonus by 1 (minimum 0).

Volatile Thrusters: Goblins have a surprising knack for crafting thrusters with extra power, though their design philosophy tends to be “ignore all common-sense safety precautions.” Each round, before the helm phase, roll a d% to determine the effect of the thrusters for that round.*

D%	Effect
01-10	The thrusters cut off and are disabled this round; the ship floats uncontrolled in its current direction of travel at a rate of half its speed.
11-30	Thrusters begin sputtering; reduce the ship’s speed by 1
31-60	Normal movement.
61-80	Burst of power from the thrusters - increase the ship’s speed by 1.
81-90	Surge of power - increase the ship’s speed by 2.
91-100	WOO-HOO! MAX POWER! Increase the ship’s speed by 3; reduce it’s manueverability by one step.

* Hate tables? An alternate rule: Increase the speed of a volatile thruster by 20% (minimum +1). When a pilot rolls a natural 1 on a piloting check, the thrusters are disabled and the ship floats uncontrolled in its current direction of travel at a rate of half its speed.

Scavenged Power Core: There’s a surprising number of things you can draw power from - if you’re willing to take some additional risks. Reduce the BP cost of a scavenged power core by 10% (minimum 1). Treat critical hit conditions against a scavenged power core as one step worse (glitching becomes malfunctioning; malfunctioning becomes wrecked).

Overcharged Power Core: Space goblins believe in power above all else - including self-preservation. Increase the PCU of an overcharged power core by 10%. If the power core is wrecked by critical hit effects, the power core overloads and explodes 1d4 rounds later, destroying the ship. A starship in a hex adjacent to a starship that explodes takes an amount of damage equal to half the destroyed starship’s maximum Hull Points; this damage can be mitigated by shields.

HYPERLEAF

The sticky-icky, the chronic, reefer, Asmodeus' lettuce - that which we call a weed by any name still smells like hyperleaf, particularly around mid-afternoon in certain neighborhoods of Absalom Station. Below, we've carefully cultivated a feat tree for those involved in counter-culture horticulture, whether it's a dabbler, a dealer, or just one hoopy frood who loves to party.

EXPERIENCED PSYCHONAUT
You've had more than your fair share of hyperleaf, and the negative effects aren't as potent to you.
Benefit: You are immune to the addiction disease when you use hyperleaf. You may choose whether to gain the positive effects when you take the drug.
Normal: Immunity to poison or a similar effect prevents a character from experiencing the drug’s beneficial effects, and removing or suppressing a drug’s negative effects with restorative spells also cancels the benefits.

CONTACT HIGH

Your biology is real far out, man - to the point that it's toxic to other species.
Prerequisite: Experienced Psychonaut
Benefit: Your body has so much hyperleaf in it that you can get other creatures high with just a touch. You may make an attack against a target's EAC. An affected creature can attempt a Fortitude saving throw (DC = 10 + half your level + your Constitution modifier) to resist the effects of your toxin. On a failed save, the creature is afflicted with the addiction disease, as well as the benefits of hyperleaf. Effects such as remove affliction and antitoxin affect this toxin as though it were a poison.

Once used, the skin toxin loses it's potency until the next time you rest to regain Stamina Points.

POTENT HALLUCINATIONWhen you're high, your hallucinations are so convincing that others can see them as well.

Prerequisite: Cha 15, Experienced Psychonaut, character level 5

Benefit: Once per day while under the effects of hyperleaf, you can cast Holographic Image as a 1st-level spell as a Spell-Like ability, using your character level as your caster level.

Special: You may select this feat up to six times. Each time you select it, you gain an additional use of Holographic Image and increase the level of the spell by 1.

CONTRABAND DEALINGSBecause of the quasi-legal state of your favorite intoxicant, you know more than your fair share of people involved in illicit careers.
Prerequisite: Cha 11, Experienced Psychonaut
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on Diplomacy and Intimidate checks when interacting with criminals, whether they’re individual thieves and cutpurses or criminal organizations. When you use Diplomacy to gather information related to crime and criminals, reduce the time spent by 1 hour (minimum 1 hour).

MOSTLY HARMLESSYou're known to law enforcement, but they don't view you as a threat - as long as you stay on the right side of the law.
Prerequisite: Cha 15, Experienced Psychonaut, Contraband Dealings
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on Diplomacy and Bluff checks when interacting with police and law enforcement. You lose the benefits of this feat if they believe you to have committed a crime or are under investigation (at the GM's discretion).

WAY GONEWhen you're high on hyperleaf, you're barely aware of what is happening to you.
Prerequisite: Experienced Psychonaut, character level 5

Benefit: While under the effects of hyperleaf, you gain DR/- equal to half your character level.