#galaxy guide

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It is often easy to forget that druids might exist in a sci-fi setting. After all, with all the futuristic cities, robots, and sinister corporations, the power of nature must surely seem… quaint, with the possible exception of stories of technology versus nature.

But nature doesn’t disappear just because the tech level goes up (gods, I hope not), and as long as there are those that would despoil nature, there will be druids to counteract them and manage the balance of worlds.

Enter the Xenowardens! Not everyone in this organization is a druid (either the old kind or today’s subject), but this group is utterly dedicated to preserving the ecosystems of all worlds, not just from negligence from civilizations or exploitation from big businesses, but also from accidental tragedies. If an entire species is threatened to be wiped out due to some natural accident and in turn cause a trophic cascade as other species go extinct in turn, you can bet the Xenowardens will be there to fight tooth and nail. Some may be considered terrorists, and others activists, but their dedication is second to none.

And that’s where our topic, the Xenodruid, comes in. While not every Xenowarden is a xenodruid and vice versa, the two are heavily intertwined, adding some nature magic to any character’s arsenal.

Back in SF1, xenodruid was a connection for the mystic class, and while that is no longer the case, this archetype does require the mystic bond and a connection with primal spellcasting. Meaning in order to play with this archetype, you have to either play a mystic or play a character with the mystic multiclass archetype, which does make sense.

So let’s see what the druids of the far future have to offer!

The base dedication for the archetype, which does require some mystic training, allows the druid to form a bond with the biosphere of a planet, attuning themselves to it and it’s needs. This grants insight into the native flora and fauna, as well as readiness against it’s hazards, and of course a subtle pull helping them find their way back to that planet when they travel offworld. Additionally, this archetype can be taken alongside the mystic multiclass archetype if necessary, ignoring the normal limitations.

Some of these mystics deepen their bond, becoming recognized as kin and friend to all native species, and giving them the ability to speak to the plants and animals therein.

With their interests being so far and wide from one world, some veteran xenodruids can maintain a bond with multiple planets at once, able to check up on them from afar.

True master xenowardens gain such a trust with their bonded worlds that they can use it to improve their ability to bring others back from the brink of death, letting them transfer vitality in the same motion as a breath of life spell. What’s more, while on the surface of a bonded world, they can even cast breath of life on themselves reflexively as they lose consciousness, as the planet refuses to let them die.

This archetype is fairly simple, and you’re probably thinking. “Wait, where are all the druid-y things like commanding the elements and plant life and all that?” And I believe the objective here is to let the primal spellcasting and abilities of the requisite mystic class or archetype to pull that particular weight. Instead, this archetype basically allows the GM carte blanche to give the character hints about where to go in games where a small handful of planets take center stage and there’s a heavy ecology angle. In a lot of games you can probably get away with a small dip into the archetype at most.

Being a xenodruid means answering the call to go out and become a friend to even the strangest worlds and their denizens. As such, some level of open-mindedness is required, though a level of dedication and stalwartness is also required to become such a defender. You’ll find your character here in the balance between those two aspects.

Colony DX-49 is practically a debtor colony, with how aggressively the coporate owners hound the residents for every credit, including sending tax-class civil robots to hound them. Naturally, when druids show up looking to stop the environmental exploitation, the populace is quite amenable to their presence. However, the company plans to step up their crackdowns in retaliation.

For some reason, the biosphere of the newly-discovered world Jembria refuses to accept bonds with any mystic that ventures there. Sent to investigate, the party discovers ruins that seem to indicate a previous ancient offworlder colony on the planet… and something they did that made an entire world averse to accepting strangers ever again.

The Galaxy Guide series of sourcebooks for West End Games’ Star Wars RPG formed the backbone of what would eventually become the Star Wars expanded universe. This is the first, A New Hope (1989).

Just about every character that appears in the first movie gets a profile, full body illustration (courtesy of Michael Manley and Al Williamson) and stat block. There’s the droid that short circuits before being sold to the Owen Lars, random imperial officers whose names were previously unknown and a ton of background aliens from the Mos Eisley cantina – and that is just scratching the surface, honestly. The profiles flesh the characters out while also attempting to fill some plot holes from the movie that surface when you think about it too much (as would happen when writing a book like this). How come the Death Star gunners didn’t annihilate the rebel attack force? Because some nimrod imperial admiral broke up the crack gunner groups and assigned staff alphabetically, forming new, untested groups. It is simultaneously a thin explanation, but also one that seems like something the Empire would do.

There are tons of great stories in this book. You probably have internalized some of them without even realizing it, as they were picked up for other RPG books, comics and novels. One of my favorites is an account by Jodo Kast, inept Boba Fett impersonator, explaining how he narrowly missed capturing Dr. Evazan (the creep who doesn’t like Luke either).

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While specific worlds might get a whole lot of focus in a setting, the moment that we open up to interstellar travel, worlds can sometimes get a little… flat.

This isn’t a factor of less effort put in, of course, but rather of time effectively managed. When your setting expands to cover a whole galaxy, it is wiser to write broad strokes rather than focus on the minutiae of one world, one country, or even one city in the setting unless you expect the players to spend a lot of time there. In fact, the only time we tend to see a single world in a sci-fi game really focused on in the same detail as a single world in a fantasy setting is when the writer doesn’t expect the reader or players to leave it. (or the body of work becomes so vast that it pays to take a familiar but surface-level world and dive into it).

But the fact of the matter is, even in games where there are multiple worlds with only bare-bones details about it actually written down… that lore and history in theory still exists, waiting to be discovered.

And that’s why there’s so much potential for fun in playing a xenoarchaeologist!

Like the name suggests, these characters are archaeologists, but focused on alien history and artifacts. If a character is delving into ancient alien ruins to learn the history of the people that once lived there, chances are they are this archetype.

Don’t assume these are desk jockeys, however. After all, these are field scientists. Moreover, they are field scientists in a science fantasy game like Starfinder, and that means being able to hold their own and plan for the unexpected.

But what exactly does that mean? Let’s take a look!

The base dedication for this archetype grants additional training in terms of culture and underhanded techniques, as well as knowledge about various archaeological sites both past and newly discovered.

Ancient ruins tend to be protected by all manner of traps and hazards, and a good archaeologist has seen them all, and warns allies when they’re about to trigger something they shouldn’t.

That familiarity also comes in handy when noticing and disabling such hazards themselves.

Many xenoarchaeologists specialize in linguistics, learning ancient languages and knowing enough to help try and decode those they are not familiar with.

Veteran delvers have faced many a danger, to the point where it’s almost certain they have a god of luck on their side, helping them avoid hazards and danger.

A short archetype, but one that promises useful for a science-y type hoping to discover a lot about the ruins they find themselves exploring. The various ways they can protect themselves and others from traps and hazards is nice too. This archetype is a good fit for the envoy or operative, though any with the skills can make use of it just as easily.

As stated, this archetype is meant to reflect characters with an interest in history and uncovering the unknown, but it can also be quite useful for treasure hunters as well, former academics or otherwise. I can imagine that the dichotomy between the two causes some fun conflict when the two interact.

On the planet of Veda, two great nations were once locked in a seemingly never-ending war. On one side, powerful necromancers sent forth waves of dead things to try and conquer the land, and on the other, druids invoked the power of life and nature to counter the deathless horde with elemental and plant alike. Now, only ruins remain. What happened to these two nations? Was there a winner? If so, what happened to the victors afterwards?

Though normally as curt and work-focused as any urog, those who know them understand that Perplexity is as adventurous as they come, and have a knack for keeping others out of danger, usually accompanied by a loud, curt “DON’T” when someone is about to accidently set off a trap.

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Another chapter of the blog has begun today, for it marks the very first time we’ve covered a Starfinder Second Edition archetype on the blog! And what a fun one it is!

Just as pirates hunted ships across the briney seas of old, so too do space pirates ply the spacelanes, targeting shipping freighters and poorly-defended vessels before slipping back into the cover of asteroid belts and other dangerous cosmic phenomena.

In the Starfinder setting, the most common pirates are the Free Captains, a conglomerate organization of crews and their vessels that are beholden to their own code, but certainly other unaffiliated crews also exist.

Regardless of allegiance, space pirates share both the danger of their occupation but also the romanticism with the pirates of yore. After all, when someone abandons civilization to become a pirate, the only law that they recognize are the ones that they impose of themselves, and there is a sort of honor in that. Of course, this also means that encounters with a pirate can vary between a sort of wild nobility that is as good as their word, and unscrupulous captains that will betray any deal or promise if it means a profit, and freighter crews and the like hope that particular gamble goes in their favor. That being said, such a backbiting scallywag can expect to find themselves targeted if their travels find themselves in more honorable pirate crew territory.

In any case, today’s archetype promises to grant some thematic abilities to those that play the starry sea. Be warned though, some of these abilities definitely reflect a moral compass that might unnerve some, but like all feats, they are optional.

The base dedication for this archetype includes pilot training and familiarity with some traditional weapons of piracy. Additionally, they equip their gear with a holographic projector programmed to project the image of their own ship’s Jolly Roger, aiding in their ability to intimidate others.

Adding insult to injury in a very literal way, many pirates send a verbal jab in the direction of a foe that one of their allies damaged, shaking up their confidence in the process.

Others that prefer heavier weapons instead strike fear with their menancing laughter that remains audible even over the roar of their guns, terrifying even as they suppress their foes.

Rushing into battle, many pirates wield a gun in one hand and a light melee weapon in the other, and often use the pistol to soften up a foe as they approach and follow up with their other weapon.

Indeed, this propensity for wielding two weapons means they typically practice to draw and aim with their weapons together in one fluid motion.

Their two-weapon fighting style also lets them block with their melee weapon and fire their pistol at close range into their foe.

Even when not blocking, they can fire and swing in quick unison at close range to keep the pressure up.

A fearsome ability only used by especially ruthless pirates, some that wield phase cutlasses learn an occult trick to trap the souls of their foes inside the blade, releasing them only when forcing them to serve as a wisp ally in combat as a magical form of press-ganging beyond the grave. Such an imprisonment is temporary, but certainly does not sit well with many folks.

Intimidation and two-weapon fighting are the name of the game with this archetype, so playing a space pirate can make a mixed range and melee character even better, or can lend a bit of that to casters and other non-frontline classes. No matter what class you choose, you’ll likely be relying on opening with intimidation debuffs and following up as a whirlwind of attacks on the battlefield.

As far as archetypes go, I’m pretty glad we started our coverage of Starfinder Second Edition with this one. You can’t have interstellar adventures without space pirates, after all! Now if only we could see some space combat rules…

After void oozes were discovered in the derelict ship that came to be called Shadowed Persistence, the craft was given a wide berth by any would-be salvagers. However, that avoidance also means the wreck is a perfect meeting place for space pirates seeking to touch base with other crews parked near the derelict.

There are a lot of rumors abound about Captain Boneforest. Some believe that the copaxi was a former ecologist that left her homeworld when it became clear that her people were driving their planet’s ecology to ruin, other that she left after being ousted from a political position. The only thing that is known for certain is that she is very old indeed.