Adapted from Vesk - Starfinder Wiki and Lizardfolk Ancestry- Archives of Nethys
Last month Paizo released their first play test document for Starfinder 2e. The first taste of what is to come from this exciting game setting is the first few levels of the Soldier class, supported by a few pieces of setting-appropriate equipment and a few monsters at the end to allow playtesters to run encounters against. Nestled in with these new rules elements, developers included notes on approaching this rules update.
Not content to simply play a few encounter variants, I can’t wait to play campaigns in a science fantasy setting supported by the game design innovations from PF 2e. I will use the context clues from the Field Test document to convert elements into my derivative setting for a west marches campaign.
The Fundamental Assumption
One major design concept the playtest revealed is, Starfinder 2e elements will operate within a Pathfinder 2e game, and vice versa. This is a huge step towards a Paizo rules engine that can support game settings across the spectrum of genre fiction. Cross compatibility opens up PF 2E’s published material to supplement what hasn’t been made yet for Starfinder 2e. In their notes, the playtesters revealed that they built Obozya, the Vesk Soldier Iconic character, for their encounters.
For this installment, I present what I believe one of Paizo’s design solutions will be. The Lizardfolk Ancestry will represent the Vesk in the Alcyon Sector. This works even while designers endeavor to ensure Starfinder elements distinguish themselves from Pathfinder elements. Vesk characters will likely have heritages and Ancestry feats geared towards the space-faring reptilians. This makes for a more elegant game design solution; wherever possible, you should try to use an existing rule over designing a new one. Don’t make a new ancestry when you can achieve your desired effect with a heritage or a combination of ancestry feats.
Vesk (Lizardfolk)
Vesk are a humanoid race resembling lizards who hail from the Gevan Protectorate, an interplanetary empire near the Foundry Confederation.
Appearance
Vesk average about 7 feet in height. They are warm-blooded and imposing, possessing tough green scales, powerful muscles, long, thick tails, small horns, claws, and teeth. Bony spikes protruding from their lower jaws like beards protect the skull in combat. Those few Vesk born with spikes running all the way down their back to the tip of their tail are said to be favored by the Grim Commander and destined for greatness.
Sexual dimorphism
Female vesk are bigger and have brighter, more colorful scale patterns than male vesk. They otherwise have similar features and body types. Scientists argue that these features once helped them attract mates and produce strong offspring, and scale vibrancy continues to be seen as a sign of health and beauty.
Ecology
Female vesk lay three to seven eggs at a time, each the size of an ostrich egg. Dense shells protect the embryos inside and are white when first laid, turning iridescent green as they develop. Traditionally, vesk parents construct nests in their home and incubate eggs with their own body heat; in modern times, most eggs are put in incubators, though recently, a return to tradition has become fashionable. The eggs hatch after six months. Vesk mature at 16 and can live up to 90 years but tend to seek a glorious death in battle before that.
History
Before the introduction of Drift travel, vesk conquered their own solar system's other races to form an interplanetary empire named The Gevan Protectorate. After Drift travelers established contact with the Protectorate, the merchants shared the technology to build Drift engines. Protectorate engineers raced to update their existing starships with the new technology and immediately initiated a war to conquer the Memory System. This led to the Silent War and the creation of the Foundry Confederation as a defensive alliance. After centuries of combat, the Protectorate later declared a truce to fight alongside the Confederation against the larger threat of the Swarm.
Society
Vesk are matrilineal and tend to have large extended families. All vesk with the same mother are considered siblings (no matter the father) and have the tightest bonds with their clutchmates. In large households, each clutch might form a sub-family and compete with other clutches inside and outside the family. Some clutches even form military units and detachments, living their entire lives in each other's company.
Vesk have long struggled with overpopulation due to their reproductive biology; Vesk Prime needs more resources to support such an ever-growing population. As a result, the vesk adopted a militaristic culture, turning their aggression toward other races, first on Vesk Prime, then on other planets. Population pressure remains an issue even after the vesk expanded to other worlds, so vesk society remains a strictly regimented military stratocracy.
At age 10, vesk children are enlisted into the planetary militia and receive basic military training, including self-defense, unarmed combat, strategy, honor, and the importance of duty to the Protectorate. Vesk émigrés tend to send their children back home or form academies where they can be taught traditional values and fighting skills. Death is not uncommon during this period, as combat is dangerous.
When coming of age, vesk most commonly enlist in the military; some instead enter a military academy, university or apprenticeship. Vesk tend to believe that youngsters will learn through the trials of life or die, and consider higher education a waste of time. While they recognize the need of other occupations and respect all professions as long as they serve the protectorate, prowess in battle remains the true marker of status, and warriors hold political power exclusively. Military service remains the best career option for young vesk, who feed the Veskarium's war machine with their lives.
Most vesk advance in their society through military service, as mercenaries or duelists, though some find more peaceful mercantile success. Most value honorable acts, efficiency, respect, and the rule of law, and while typically stoic in front of other races, vesk are prone to emotional outbursts in private or during battle. Since vesk culture does not prioritize education, many vesk who seek knowledge exile themselves from their home societies to travel the stars. Other vesk who leave the Protectorate do so in pursuit of glory as mercenaries or adventurers.
Vesk children usually keep a piece of their eggshell during childhood, and ritually destroy it when coming of age as a sign of leaving childhood behind. Traditionally, this ritual is dedicated to the Grim Commander; vesk who do not worship him or enter civilian occupations might dedicate this to another deity or remove the religious element altogether.
Vesk tend to be fixated on social status due to their hierarchical society. They tend to be honorable and duty but also proud, sometimes leading to deadly honor duels. Vesk also take pride in their self-mastery and propriety, but particularly egregious insults can lead to a blood debt, which is only paid when the offender's family is exterminated.
Due to their history, vesk believe that all other species are inferior to them and that they have a duty to treat subordinates, even conquered ones, fairly. They seek to improve the lives of their subjects through education, trade, and the rule of law, without considering whether the latter appreciate it or not.
Modern vesk are omnivores descended from carnivores, and meat remains a diet staple. Many traditional vesk recipes have remained unchanged for generations. Preparing meat is almost an art, and vesk have learnt techniques for cooking meat from almost all conquered planets.
Vesk Adventure Hooks
A clutchmate has gone missing while on a mercenary mission in a frontier system. Track them down and uncover what happened.
Your bloodline has been insulted by a rival Vesk clan. Either defeat their champion in an honor duel or fulfill the blood debt.
You receive a mysterious message from a long-lost Vesk exile who claims to have found a cache of powerful pre-Gap artifacts. Retrieve them before they fall into the wrong claws.
A Vesk colony has fallen out of contact, and you are sent to investigate. Discover if some threat wiped them out or if they have turned traitor.
The Protectorate tasks you with making first contact with a newly spacefaring species. Convince them to accept "protection" or subjugation.
An uppity primitive species resists Vesk control over their homeworld. Lead a strike team to decapitate their leadership and quell the rebellion.
Uncover rumors that a rival Vesk clan is developing illegal Drift portal technology. Infiltrate and sabotage the project.
A charismatic Vesk warmaster is gaining influence through populist rhetoric. The establishment wants you to undermine their campaign discreetly.
You are recruited to test the defenses of a new secret Vesk research station. Stage a mock attack to expose any weaknesses.
A Vesk expedition vanishes while exploring newly discovered ruins. Retrieve any artifacts and determine what dangers wiped out the team.
Secrets of the Vesk
A hidden colony of Vesk dissidents who reject their militaristic culture and live peacefully trading with other races. The authorities seek to eliminate this pacifist enclave.
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