#skittermander

There's been talks with one of my DMs to maybe start a TTRPG game of Starfinder... and I got a bit excited... so I already created my character! (for that theoretical game, lol)

Character reference sheets below the cut (I still need to update some of them, ik)

Moving away from the Azlanti Star Empire for now, we move on to a considerably less overtly evil empire in the form of the Veskarium, and one of their vassal species (and bane of vesk existence): Skittermanders!

Ah… the skittermander, this is an entry that I’ve been waiting to do for a good long while because the buildup behind it is so fascinating.

Fans of Pathfinder will no doubt recall that Paizo basically caught lightning in a bottle when they decided to make an effort in their earliest days to actually take goblins, widely considered the most basic of the generically evil “villain” species, and give them characterization. Suddenly a generic species of little bastards defined entirely by the inability to make functional societies and their envy of their neighbors that could were suddenly instead goofy little impulsive gremlins that were simultaneously adorable and horrifying as antagonists and weirdly charming for all of their shenanigans as allies or even heroes.

So, when Paizo revealed on the very front cover of the first Alien Archive book a group of vaguely-goblin-esque new fluffy aliens, we were all wondering if Starfinder was trying to make lightning strike twice with a new cute manic little critter.

And… I think they succeeded, leveraging the popularity of what ended up being essentially “inverse goblins” into one of the iconic images associated with the new system, featured in a series of free one-off adventures, in lore books, and generally all around the products.

Prior to vesk occupation, the skittermanders were the residents of Oedderchonk (an adorable name for a world, which they happily continue to use even as the Vesk call it Vesk-3) living out pastoral lives in the verdant mostly-untouched beauty of their homeworld.

After the Vesk arrived… not much has changed, honestly, aside from a few Vesk settlements and outposts.

Indeed, when the Veskarium came to their world, the skittermanders were eager to help the Vesk by staying out of their way and going back to business as usual, to the point where the Vesk had to sit them down and explain that their planet belonged to the Vesk now. To which they replied “Okay!” and went right back to what they were doing.

That pretty much sums up the skittermander people as a whole, Cheerful, eager to explore and learn, having no concept of permanent governance, but always eager to help those in need. They are so helpful in fact that it legitimately weirds out the vesk, and can sometimes be annoying or even dangerous if their help would do more harm than good. Not that skittermanders cannot become jaded or become cognizant to the terrible cruelties of the galaxy, but deep down, almost every skittermander believes that violence is a result of misunderstandings, and that in a better world, they might have been friends with everyone they meet.

Skittermanders are rotund creatures covered in brightly-colored soft fur in colors that range across the rainbow. They are mammalian, with wide mouths and large, dark eyes. They have a total of six arms and two legs, giving them a lot of manual dexterity to work with. Skittermanders also sport thick, flexible tails as well.

Additionally, they do not typically raise their young, instead allowing the whelps to live feral in the jungles until they have grown enough to become curious about the civilizations of adults. In their whelp stage, skittermanders will eat anything, (a trait they retain into adulthood) but they also sport a tubular belly-mouth that they can use to latch onto larger creatures, unnoticed due to numbing agents, where they can parasitize drained blood while living in relative safety. This organ normally withers and drops off once they reach adulthood though.

Skittermander society is one of peaceful pastoral existence, with various members pursuing their interests in peace with only great need interrupting them, such as completing a great work or driving back incursions from their fearsome subterreanean stridermander cousins. Indeed, their society basically has no government at all save for when needed, with the greatest experts available on the task at hand leading the way until the job is done, and then everyone wanders off again.

All of this to say that skittermanders drive their vesk up the damn wall, and I love it. In the wider galactic stage, you have to remind a skittermander daily to show up tomorrow for work or they will just stop coming in if they think they are not needed, and their peaceful noncompliance with vesk authority vexes them to no end, since at least a rebellion could be fought against. Being ignored is somehow worse, but vesk honor won’t allow them to lash out at noncombatants even at the utmost end of frustration. Their joyful optimism and friendliness might seem like naiveite, but skittermanders aren’t stupid. They simply believe potential friendship is worth trying most of the time, and the rest of the time, they understand that the best way to help people is to stop the cruel and monstrous who cannot be reached.

Skittermanders are agile and charming, but spending their youth as feral animals does tend to make them a bit simple.

Having six arms, however, does mean they can manipulate and hold plenty of equipment at the ready, and have the upper hands in grappling.

Most skittermanders are also full of energy, which they can leverage occasionally to push themselves to run and act even faster.

They also retain good night vision as well.

Of course, not every skittermander is built the same. Some more jaded individuals that have assimilated to the harsh realities of the galaxy boast greater toughness over charm, though their minds tend to be at risk of instability, depression, and depersonalization as a result.

Others raised off of Oedderchonk tend to be raised by their parents, giving them more opportunities to learn before entering adulthood, though their social skills suffer somewhat, effectively negating their intelligence penalty and charisma bonus and leaving just their agility.

Others boast slightly different abilities altogether. Some become so fascinated by a subject in their youth that they have lower energy levels from lack of regular exercise in exchange for greater knowledge in their area of expertise. Others are so selfless that they actively body block the incoming attacks of other creatures, risking themselves to protect them. Some fail to fully coordinate their extra limbs as arms due to a birth defect, giving them only two hands to worth with but having greater speed thanks to having extra hands on the ground. Finally, some become actively aware of the injustices in the Veskarium and rail against them, giving them greater insight into the lies of others, especially those of the Veskarium.

With their agility and charisma, skittermanders excel as envoys, operatives, and even solarians, as well as ranged builds for various other combat classes, though melee is no trouble for them either. Precog and witchwarper are the natural picks for spellcasting, though their mystics can be quite capable too. The intelligence penalty does hamper their skill ranks, as well as their ability in the mechanic, technomancer, and studious biohacker classes, but this is fairly easy to get around with some dedication, and it is rare indeed to see dedication greater than a skittermander pursuing their favorite vocation and subject.

Some Taffeta, SAKI and Cameran variants from Space Diddy's, which didn't get to be shown off as much in the series.

Taffy with play credit card and gamer girl controller, mage hand, and preparing for grenade toss.

SAKI battle pose, shocked, cute, drunk, love, sad, nervous emotes.

Also these Eneer Kau and Isaiah 1:17 poses based on the first Starfinder games starting at Incident at Absalom Station. These didn't end up getting used due to cast changes. Had a colourization scheme set up for the photon (orange) and graviton (blue) attunements. And also here's a Cameran in the v1.0 colour scheme.

My Starfinder recently got a magic item that lets him summon his dead bandit friends and we've been having way too much fun making all his pals.

Portraits for the space crew!

Kir (he/him) - Skittermander Gunner

Doctor Thulasi (he/they/it)- Ooze Science officer