Star-Crossed Half-Species for Starfinder First Edition (Patreon)

The core rulebook presents two crossbreed species—the half-elf and half-orc. It also presents a universe with multiple species sharing the same homeworlds (elves and lashunta, for example), biotech grafts, powerful magic, and machine gods. It seems unlikely that with all those environment-changing, reality-warping options, no new crossbreed species would emerge.

I first write a Star-Crossed post nearly a decade ago, but almost none of that material made it to this Patreon. So I revised and compiled all my Starfinder First Edition crossbreeds-to-date – the aeshun (elf/lashunta), e-soki (mousefolk androids), huitz’zysha (huitz’plina/maraquoi), lashirren (lashunta/shirren), and vorruk (orc/vesk) – and present them here. Each has a different circumstance leading to their creation.

And, having done that, I am free to release the ultimate crossbreed new week... the Gobbomander.

AESHUN

Aeshun are the crossbreed children of elven and lashunta parents. While mating between elves and lashunta is not uncommon, the production of aeshun is. Fewer than 1 in 100 elf/lashuna couples produce children, and even among those that do roughly half are indistinguishable from damaya lashunta (though they are born with that state already in place, rather than selecting it at puberty). Aeshun are often seen as miracles by parents that build lasting, living relationships—but can also be viewed as burdens by couples that are already unstable in their relationship, or not ready for the additional stress a child brings.

Aeshun are gifted with natural curiosity and unusual ways of looking at the world, but their heritage causes each aeshun to have their own innate strengths and weaknesses. Generally considered curiosities by lashunta (who often wish to study them), and dangerous wild cards by elves (who generally don’t trust aeshun they don’t personally know well), aeshun often have trouble fitting in on their hoemworld. However once they leave their native lands and travel into the larger galaxy, they often find truly alien species have no preconceived notions of what aeshun should be like, and do not care about their unusual lineage.

Appearance: Aeshun appear to be tall, lithe elves with lashunta-like antennae (though roughly one in 16 aeshun lacks the antennae). Their skin is even and smooth, though coloration can range from creamy to dark. Many have natural patterns of darker skin in small spots or lines along their temples, spines, and lower back. They have pupils, unlike their elven parents, and their hair and eye color generally match, but can be of nearly any hue.

Species Traits

2 HP

Ability Adjustments: Though aeshun are all generally tall and lean, their actual natural talents range from being strong and wise, to weak but tough and nimble, to likeable and bright but klutzy. It’s not quite true that no two aeshun are alike, but they do have a broad range of inherent advantages and drawbacks. An aeshun gains +2 to any 2 ability scores, and -2 to any 1 ability score. These modifier must be applied to three different ability scores.

Size and Type: Aeshun are medium humanoids with the elf and lashunta subtypes, and a 30 foot speed.

Aeshun Magic: At character creation select either the elven magic species trait, or the lashunta magic species trait.

Limited telepathy: As the lashunta species trait. Alternatively, you may select whichever magic trait you did not pick for aeshun magic.

Low-Light Vision: As the elven species trait.

Vital Statistics

Aeshun stand between 5’10” and 6’6” tall, weigh between 150 lbs. and 200 lbs. They reach maturity at 17, much faster than either parent species, but rarely know when their natural time is up due to a tendency to die suddenly with little sign of aging, with a maximum age of 300 + 3d100 years.

E-SOKI

E-Soki aren’t, properly speaking, a crossbreed species. They are androids, and count as androids for all prerequisites and effects. However, rather than an artificial body built to look like a human, e-soki have artificial bodies built to look like ysoki. Their eyes and exposed skin have the same circuity patterns as typical androids, but the main feature that reveals their constructed nature is their fur, which is generally an unnatural color such as hot pink or pastel blue, or may have wilder patterns such as  animal stripes, rainbow colors, or even corporate logos.

E-soki have +2 Dex +2 Int –2 Str. They are size small, don’t have low-light vision, and don’t have an upgrade slot. They do have cheek pouches, as the ysoki species trait, and can stand from prone as a swift action (though they do not have any other aspect of the ysoki moxie trait). They otherwise act as androids.

HUITZ'ZYSHA

Rare in most places, numerous huitz’zysha can be found on Vance IV, a thickly forested world in the Vance system also known as Morreion.

The Vance system is just beyond the furthest world of the Ioun Imperium in terms of real distance (less than a light-year away), despite being a lengthy jump through hyperspace. Its existence is not known to the Imperium, but it is known to several clans of huitz’plina who foresaw its importance generations ago due to the visions of powerful precognitive seers. As a result, when huitz’plina from those clans manage to travel off-world, they often make a pilgrimage to Morreion. Many retire there, and several small huitz’plina settlements have developed on-world.

By coincidence (or perhaps not coincidentally, given the huitz’plina precognitive visions regarding the system), due to a hyperspace wormhole, the Vance System can easily (and even accidentally) be reached from a Forest Moon in the Core Worlds. The Forest Moon in question happens to be the homeworld of the maraquoi, who have experienced a significant boost in technology resulting in many hyperspace trips off their world. On some of them, the route to Morreion was discovered, and a significant maraquoi settlement was established.

When the huitz’plina and maraquoi encountered one another, they found significant appreciation in each other’s culture, art, food, and music. A joint council was set up to ensure all claims to the planet were respected, and to peacefully settle disputes. As the maraquoi settlement was larger and more advanced, numerous huitz’plina took up residence there. Friendships and even romances blossomed. In time, it became commonplace for a huitz’plina to be asked to serve as a zysha-vennin, or “spiritual ancestor” of pregnant groups of maraquoi–essentially an honorary role based off the zysha, or “facilitators,” one of the seven genders of maraquoi that are not part of the physical act of reproduction, but are crucial to it, and still somehow contribute their genetic material to the offspring.

It came as some surprise when a huitz’plina zysha-vennin turned out to be able to act as a true zysha, contributing genetic material to their honorary descendent. These mixed-species offspring were known as huitz’zysha, and were cherished and welcomed by all the settlements of Morreion. In time, a huitz’zysha formed a family with both maraquoi and huitz’plina, and discovered they could substitute members of both species for various genders each group normally used to produce offspring. And, then, a huitz’zysha group of maraquoi and huitz’plina included a beloved lashunta friend as a zysha-vennin… and discovered that any family with a huitz’zysha could add genetic material from other species who served as zysha-vennin.

(Given all the different appearances they may inherit, huitz'zysha tend not to be hung up on looks. Art by Jacob Blackmon.)

As a result, there was an explosion of huitz’zysha being born and cared for on Morreion, often taking on physical traits from other species as well. The complex love-binding groups that grew up around this share a great deal with maraquoi 7-gendered parenting groups, but also have various polyamorous and friend-bonded traditions adopted from huitz’plina, lashunta, elven, vesk, and orcish cultural norms. Huitz’zysha are generally raised knowing that they are the product of strong, complex relationships of caring parents, friends, and relatives.

Though huitz’zysha can differ wildly in appearance, they all share the same species traits (though some of those are flexible depending on their exact ancestry).

Species Traits

HP: 2

Ability Adjustments: Huitz’zysha come in numerous shapes, sizes, and dispositions. A huitz’zysha gains a +2 bonus in two ability scores of your choosing, and a -2 penalty in one ability score of your choice.

Size and Type: Huitz’zysha are medium humanoids with the maraquoi and huitz’plina subtypes, a 20-foot speed, and a 20-foot climb speed. At character creation, a huitz’zysha may either select another medium humanoid subtype to gain (representing an additional genetic ancestor), or begin with 4 bonus species HP rather than 2. The subtype cannot be from a species with an ability that allows them to be treated as another type (such as plantlike).

Kith’s Appearance: Huitz’zysha do not take penalties to Disguise checks to look like another species that is a medium humanoid that has the same subtype they do.

Senses: Huitz’zysha have blindsense (scent) with a range of 15 feet, blindsense (sound) with a range of 15 feet, darkvision with a range of 30 feet, and lowlight vision.

Prehensile Tail: All huitz’zysha have a tail that is as effective as a hand at manipulating objects, which allows them to wield and hold up to three hands’ worth of weapons and equipment. This does not increase the number of attacks they can make during combat.

Huitz’Zysha Feats

Though physical and mental therapy, a huitz’zysha can learn to access abilities from their ancestors not universal to all their kind. By expending a feat, a huitz’zysha can gain one of the following abilities if a medium humanoid species with one of the same subtypes the huitz’zysha has gains it: amplify, animated, agile, amphibious, astute, battle-hardened, bloodscent, brachiator, boneyard conditioning, buoy, change shape, cold ensured, cold resistance, convivial, cooperative, distracting buzz, burrow, dream skill, drow immunities, dual nervous system, easily augmented, electrical affinity, electricity resistance, elven immunities, empathic, espraksa movement, enveloping grip, favored object, fearsome, fierce survivalist, find weakness, fire resistance, flexible, forest friend, glider, gravity adjustment, heat tracker, hold breath, imago movement, intellectual knack, jumper, lifebound, lurker, malleable limbs, mechanical talent, multicultural, natural agility, natural communication, natural swimmer, natural weapons, necromancy resistance, nightborn, nimble, orc ferocity, perceptive, pounce, predreaming, psychometry, radiant, regenerative evolution, rugged travel, scrappy, shards of the past, shared stillness, shift limb, simulacrum, skin mimic, slow but steady, spine assault, sneaky, stonecunning, stony plates, strix mobility, sturdy, survivor, survivalist, suspicious, talented, telepathy, third eye, tinkerer, trimorphic, twinkle, versed, wary, and wasteland dweller. A GM may choose to allow additional appropriate species traits, if desired.

Spending a feat can also double the range of their species trait blindsenses and darkvision. A huitz’zysha can take additional feats to gain additional species traits it qualifies for, but cannot take the same trait more than one, or take traits from species that are not Medium humanoids with a shared subtype.

Vital Statistics

Huitz’zysha have the height, weight, and aging characteristics of one Medium humanoid species that shares a subtype with them, selected at character creation.

LASHIRREN

Lashirren are the product of two shirren parents, and one lashunta parent, and only exist as a result of powerful magic. In general the two species are not in any way genetically compatible, but with delicate application of transmutation and conjuration magic, it is possible for one shirren and one lashunta parent to combine their genetic material into an embryo that then gestates in a shirren host. This step is rarely taken but the shirren drive for individuality, even from the shackles of species, sometimes leads to situations where it is seen as desirable.

Lashirren view the world differently than any of their parents, and indeed each lashirren appears to form a worldview unique to them, and often incomprehensible to others. This often leads to valuable insights missed by those who accept common theories as to how and why things work, but it also sets lashirren apart, and sometimes sets them down long rabbit-holes of false equivalence or misunderstood phenomena. While shirren delight in the individualist approach of lashirren, other species often find them obtuse and frustrating.

Appearance: Lashirren look much like lashunta, but have ridges of chitin across their brow and protecting most joints, knuckles, and the soles of their feet. Their coloration generally matches one of their shirren parents, with their hair generally green, black, or deep brown.

Species Traits

HP: 6

Dimorphic: All lashirren have a deep understanding of how differences drive the universe, but can become so engrossed in contemplating such differences they overlook practical matters. Lashirren all have +2 Wisdom, and -2 Intelligence. Like their lashunta parents, lashirren are dimorphic and at puberty can choose to become muscular korasha (+2 Strength), or nimble damaya (+2 Dexterity).

Size and Type: Lashirren are medium humanoids with the lashunta and shirren subtypes, and a 30 foot speed.

Blindsense: As the shirren species ability.

Focus: Lashirren often become strongly focused on one idea or skill early in their lives. Select one skill. If it not a class skill for your theme or first class level, gain it as a class skill. If it is a class skill from some source other than your species, you gain a +1 bonus to all skill checks.

Individualism: A lashirren knows that ultimately it is alone in the universe, and must depend on itself above all others. Once per day, as long as no ally is within 10 feet, a lashirren can roll a single attack roll or skill check twice and take the higher result.

Limited telepathy: As the lashunta species trait.

Vital Statistics

Lashirren stand between 5’ and 7’ tall, weigh between 120 lbs. and 180 lbs., with korasha skewing on the shorter but heavier side of those numbers. They reach maturity at 10,aging similarly (though not as quickly) as their shirren parents, and have a maximum age of 60 +3d10 years.

VORRUK

Vorruk are a genetically engineered blend of the genes of orcs (specifically those than combine naturally with human genes in half-orcs), and vesk woved together and placed in in birthing matrices. While it might theoretically be possible for a vorruk zygote or embryo to be transferred to a mother for gestation and live birth, normally vorruk are engineered, machine-nourished, and watched over in large numbers in artificial wombs. Vorruk were originally bred by drow mercenary companies specifically to create hearty, quick-maturing, capable warriors during a long war that threatened the drow base planet. Those first few generations were the largest vorruk population, though many died during the fighting. When the war suddenly ended, those vorruk already implanted in birthing machines were brought to maturity, but since that time the creation of vorruk has largely been performed in small batches, as labs and weapon dealers seek to improve on the genetype and maturation and training process.

Because most vorruk are raised from birth being told they are living weapons (and nothing more), and the majority of other species only encounters vorruk in battlefield conditions, they have a reputation as simple-minded, amoral, brutal killers. It is certainly true than many vorruk who have known only a life as indentured soldiers often focus on their fighting skills and find anything not related to warfare to be a luxury they cannot afford. Vorruk raised in more nurturing environments are no more brutal or bloodthirsty than any other species, however, and even among those who have lived lives of endless conflict many develop more nuanced ethical and aesthetic perspectives.

Appearance: Vorruk have a basic appearance very similar to half-orcs, but with more pronounced brow ridges, and fine scales (visible only at fairly close range) over their whole bodies. Their coloration focused heavily and reds and greens or more rarely purple, generally in dark shades, and some show striping or spots of darker and lighter colors. They have strong, sharp canines and retractable claws.

Species Traits

HP: 8

Ability Adjustments: Vorruk are strong and swift, faster than either genetic donor, but can have difficulty grasping deep theoretical concepts. A vorruk gains +2 Str, +2 Dex, and -2 Int.

Size and Type: Vorruk are medium humanoids with the orc and vesk subtypes, and a 40 foot speed.

Vision: Vorruk gain darkvision and low-light vision

Resilient: Once per day, a vorruk that is unconscious but stable can stay in the fight without spending Resolve to do so. (See the rules for death and dying.)

Natural Weapons: Vorruk are always considered armed. They can deal 1d3 lethal slashing or piercing damage with unarmed strikes and the attack doesn’t count as archaic. Vorruk gain a unique weapon specialization with their natural weapons at 3rd level, allowing them to add 1–1/2 × their character level to their damage rolls for their natural weapons (instead of just adding their character level, as usual).

Vital Statistics

Vorruk stand between six and seven-and-a-half feet tall and weight between 200 and 325 pounds, with no distinction in height or weight between male and female vorruk. They reach maturity at five years of age, with a maximum age of 40 + 2d10 years.