Races Among the Stars 14: Urog
And now on to one of my favorite designs for a species in all of Starfinder, one that has inspired a whole week of special entries in the past about alien anatomy and equipment! I speak of course of everyone’s favorite horse-sized trilobite roombas, the urog!
Hailing from Dykon, one of the moons of Bretheda, urog are unique among the species of the Pact Worlds in that they are silicon-based rather than carbon-based, along with the fairly unique composition of their world and it’s own flora and fauna.
While this does make them fairly unfamiliar and strange to most other sentient species, the urog themselves are themselves not an unfriendly lot despite assumptions to the contrary from interacting with them.
Indeed, the Urog are seemingly quite blunt and to the point in conversation, having seemingly little patience for nuance and small talk. However, what most other species don’t realize is that silicon compounds are on average not nearly as flexible or energetic as carbon compounds, meaning that efficiency is an absolute must when prolonged activity or even conversation can be actively tiring for them.
For their part, urogs are contemplative and curious about the world, leading to them being a scholarly society that favors study and research over other pursuits, not to mention their necessary focus on the ecology of their homeworld since very few worlds are exactly like it and therefore suitable for prolonged habitation.
Urogs are large and about 10 feet long with a silicate body, making them look like some cross of translucent silverfish, trilobite, horseshoe crab, or perhaps armored slug. They possess several smaller legs and two longer limbs with manipulator claws, as well as a long trunk in the front with a jaw-like grasper and sensory antennae that many mistake for a head and neck. In truth, This organ is purely for manipulation and contains no brain nor digestive or respiration organs in it.
When at rest or in their low-energy state, urogs tuck their limbs into their body, and resemble some massive primitive shelled creature in such a state. Even while active, urogs move primarily by using electromagnetic forces to glide and float along the ground, and even use this alongside microscopic cilia on their underside to actually extract thin layers of matter from whatever they pass over, which serves as their method of eating.
When active, urogs unfurl their limbs and become much more mobile, but doing so requires them to heat up their stiff silicate bodies to become flexible, which costs a lot of energy, much more so than what warm-blooded carbon life forms do. As such, they reserve such activity only when it is necessary, and prefer to act as efficiently as possible, no matter the situation.
Lastly, it’s worth noting that an urog’s diet can affect their appearance, changing the color of their bodies or even promoting the growth of elaborate scute patterns on the outer layer of their bodies.
Urogs believe in being as efficient as possible, in part because of the risks involved in frivolous and poorly-planned behavior. Overexertion is dangerous for them, and even the energy to try and correct the views of others that assume they are being rude is too much an ask most of the time. To an urog, it is considered polite to end conversations quickly rather than waste time and energy on small talk, and they also discourage speaking on a topic at all when one lacks a certain level of expertise.
While not introverted, urogs are used to being fairly solitary, focusing on their work. Their entertainment comes from observing the fascinating phenomena around them.
Urogs are large, tough, and clever, but their curt demeanors make them few friends.
Indeed, their blunt attitudes make it difficult for them to excel in social settings.
Given their electromagnetic movement method, urogs naturally prove resistant to electrical damage.
Their electromagnetic senses also allow them to feel the presence of even invisible creatures when both they and others are on a conductive surface.
Helping with communication, urogs possess a limited form of telepathy.
They also have superior night-sight, which helps when the sun might be blocked by the shadow of the planet their home moon orbits around.
Being bulky and moving by electromagnetism means they’re a bit slow.
However, their intellectual pursuits means they prove quite skilled as well.
With their tough bulk and brainpower, urogs lend themselves well to both melee combat builds and skilled classes alike. Vanguard and melee combat classes are good choices, as is mechanic and biohacker. Technomancer is also good, though most other casters work well as well. Their slow speed makes many operative builds an awkward choice, and while witchwarper is their weakest spellcaster, their weakest class overall is probably envoy thanks to both a charisma penalty and a debuff to bluff and diplomacy. As such, any envoy build is guaranteed to quickly focus away from the social skills into improvising with other options very quickly. Even with these weaknesses, however, they are not insurmountable, so have fun with them!
We’ve got one more entry this week, but I’d say it’s pretty fun as well, definitely worth a look!
