In the Starfall Galaxy, where diverse ecosystems flourish on countless worlds and ancient genetic manipulations linger, some individuals possess extraordinary abilities derived from the animal world. These are the Beastkin, capable of partially or fully transforming into animalistic forms, granting them deadly natural weapons, refined senses, and other such traits. A beastkin treads the line between instinct and rationality, living with a foot in both the wild cosmos and advanced society.
Beastkin is a blanket term for any person who has gained the ability to partially or fully transform into an animal through any number of means, while maintaining a balance with their humanoid side. Most beastkin are born of xenomorphic entities or have a xenomorphic ancestor in their lineage – creatures whose biology allows for radical shapeshifting, often through parasitic or symbiotic relationships. The xenomorphic influence might not always fully manifest in the child, giving them the transformative nature of their lineage without a loss of control or a specific vulnerability. Born or made, such xenomorphic entities usually hold beastkin in high regard, as they embody many of their strengths without some of their inherent drawbacks.
Aside from xenomorphic entities, there are various other paths to becoming a beastkin in Starfall. In some cases, a powerful Cosmic Flora entity or a Mana-infused spirit may grant a chosen individual the power to transform. Others have gained the powers of beastkin through a trick of a Rift-Entity or an unusual reaction to advanced bio-engineering or polymorph magic. There are even rumors that some rare beastkin might be shapeshifting animals that somehow gained the form of a sapient ancestry, rather than the other way around, perhaps through exposure to Creation's Forge or a strange Rift-rupture.
If you want a character that treads the boundaries between rationality and instinct, at home in both society and the wilds yet set apart from both, you should play a beastkin.
YOU MIGHT...
Prefer the companionship of a close-knit group, like a pack or pride.
Feel an attachment to your inherent animal and seek that animal out to understand them better, perhaps even studying their ecology on distant worlds.
Wrestle with your animalistic side and choose to isolate yourself from those who may not understand your unique nature.
OTHERS PROBABLY...
Believe you practice primal Mana-magic or have a direct connection to the natural world.
Assume that you love animals, especially those of the same kind as your inherent animal.
Worry that you will lose yourself to your feral instincts and attack others.
Physical Description
Beastkin come in all shapes and sizes due to the countless combinations of ancestry and inherent animal. Most beastkin resemble a typical member of their base ancestry so closely that they are indistinguishable as a beastkin when in their humanoid form. On rare occasions, a beastkin is born with features that belie their animalistic nature at all times, such as subtle fur patterns, unusual eye shapes, or a faint musky scent.
A beastkin's nature is more obvious when they are transformed into their hybrid shape, their features shifting to resemble the animal to which they are connected. The manifestation of these features varies from beastkin to beastkin, but typically, their teeth become more prominent, their skin toughens like hide, their hair lengthens, and their eyes reshape. Beastkin that can transform into actual animals keep some traits that tie them to their humanoid form, such as retaining their eye color or a specific vocalization.
Society
Beastkin typically weave themselves into their ancestral societies, hiding their true nature as much as necessary. Some societies, particularly nomadic or frontier societies, are more accepting of beastkin, allowing them to live in their preferred form without judgment. Beastkin tend to live in independent communities with other beastkin and xenomorphic entities with the same inherent animal, finding that their association with the same animal instills a sense of fellowship. These communities usually reside in or near environments that match the habitats of their inherent animals, such as the dense jungles of a Florin world or the asteroid fields where Strix roost. Other beastkin instead live on the fringes of society or away from it altogether, preferring to live on their own.
Most people don't understand that beastkin don't have to contend with the full, uncontrollable aspects of xenomorphic transformation, nor do they have any way of telling beastkin apart from full xenomorphs by appearance alone. Because of this, many people treat beastkin just as they would a dangerous xenomorph, fearing a loss of control. People who know of beastkin and can identify them as such are usually much less apprehensive about associating with them. Beastkin are sometimes given the misnomer of "skin-shifters" or "feral-kin" by those who are only mildly aware of their existence.
Beliefs
Most lean toward neutral alignments, but beastkin can be as varied in alignment as there are animals in the world. Due to their association with nature and the animal world, many beastkin worship nature-aligned cosmic entities or philosophies that emphasize the balance of ecosystems. Some adhere to the Green Faith (if adapted for Starfall), while others worship concepts of hunting, transformation, or travel.
Popular Edicts: Protect your chosen pack/community, understand your inner animal, embrace the cycles of nature.
Popular Anathema: Betray your pack, destroy an ecosystem without reason.
Beastkin Mechanics
Beastkin Heritage
The blood of a cosmic beast flows through your veins, granting you the ferocity and might of animals. Only creatures with the humanoid trait can take the Beastkin Versatile Heritage. Choose a type of animal such as bat, eagle, shark, spider, tyrannosaurus, wasp, or wolf. This is the type of animal tied to your heritage and is known as your inherent animal. You gain the beast and beastkin traits, in addition to the traits from your ancestry. You gain the Change Shape ability. A beastkin's hybrid form is their natural shape. You can choose from beastkin feats and feats from your ancestry whenever you gain an ancestry feat.
Change Shape [One-Action]
Concentrate, Polymorph, Primal, Transmutation
You change into your humanoid or hybrid shape. Each shape has a specific, persistent appearance, and most beastkin remain in their hybrid shapes by default. In hybrid shape, you appear as a mix between your ancestry and your inherent animal. While in hybrid shape, you gain a jaws unarmed Strike resembling the features of your inherent animal (fangs for bats, beaks for eagles, mandibles for wasps, and so on). Your jaws deal 1d4 piercing damage, have the agile, finesse, and unarmed traits, and are in the brawling weapon group. In your humanoid shape, you retain the appearance of your original ancestry.
Beastkin Ancestry Feats (1st Level)
The following feats are available to beastkin characters.
Animal Senses (Feat 1)
Beastkin
You gain one of the following senses available to your inherent animal: darkvision, low-light vision, or scent (imprecise) 30 feet.
Critter Shape (Feat 1)
Beastkin
Once per hour, you can use Change Shape to enter a critter shape. This is a Tiny version of your inherent animal. While in critter shape, you gain a fly Speed of 20 feet if your inherent animal is a flying creature, or a swim Speed of 20 feet if your inherent animal is an aquatic creature. You cannot make Strikes in this form.
Quick Shape (Feat 1)
Beastkin
Your instincts kick in and you take on an aggressive stance. As a free action, you can use Change Shape to transform into your hybrid shape. This can be done outside of your turn.
Beastkin Ancestry Feats (5th Level)
Animalistic Resistance (Feat 5)
Beastkin
Your animalistic connections help you resist natural afflictions. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to Fortitude saves against disease and poison.
Greater Animal Senses (Feat 5)
Beastkin
Your senses advance to match those of your animal aspect. You gain one additional sense from the Animal Senses feat, or if you already have scent (imprecise) 30 feet, its range increases to 60 feet.
Beastkin Ancestry Feats (9th Level)
Animal Magic (Feat 9)
Beastkin
Your shapeshifting grants you a magical connection to the animal world. You gain speak with animals and animal messenger as 2nd-rank innate primal spells. You can cast each of these spells once per day.
Pack Tactics (Feat 9)
Beastkin
You have mastered how to hunt with your pack. When you and at least one ally are flanking a creature, your Strikes against that creature deal 1 additional damage.
Beastkin Ancestry Feats (13th Level)
Dire Form (Feat 13)
Beastkin
Your hybrid shape is a hulking beast. When you use Change Shape to enter your hybrid form, you can choose to become Large size for 1 minute. While Large, your reach increases by 5 feet, and your jaws unarmed Strike deals 1d6 piercing damage instead of 1d4. You can use this once per day.
Gift of the Wild (Feat 13)
Beastkin
You can share your power with others, but they can't fully embrace the wild transformation as easily as you can. As a 2-action activity, you can touch an adjacent ally. That ally gains your jaws unarmed Strike and the beastkin trait for 1 minute. They do not gain your Change Shape ability or any other beastkin feats. You can use this once per day.
Beastkin Ancestry Feats (17th Level)
Animal Shape (Feat 17)
Beastkin
You have full control over your shape and can transform into your inherent animal. As a 2-action activity, you can use Change Shape to enter your inherent animal's form. This functions as the animal form spell, but only for your inherent animal, and the duration is 10 minutes. You retain your mental scores and can speak. You can use this once per day.
Animal Swiftness (Feat 17)
Beastkin
You move like an animal, with unparalleled speed and grace. Your Speed increases by 10 feet.
Here are a few adventure hooks tailored to appeal specifically to a Beastkin player character, leveraging their unique physiology, their connection to the animal world, and their struggle with their dual nature in the Starfall Galaxy.
Adventure Hooks for Beastkin Player Characters
1. The Blighted Bloom of the Void-Tree
Hook: A colossal, ancient Cosmic Flora entity, known locally as a "Void-Tree," on a remote, uninhabited world has begun to undergo an unnatural, aggressive bloom. Instead of vibrant life, it's spawning grotesque, xenomorphic plant-creatures that are rapidly consuming the planet's resources and emitting a chilling void-signature. The Beastkin PC feels a primal pull towards this phenomenon – a disturbing mix of fascination and distress, as if the very essence of nature is being corrupted. Standard scientific teams are overwhelmed by the hostile flora and the void-taint. A Florin botanist, desperate to save the unique ecosystem, or an Ardande who senses a profound imbalance in the planet's organic Mana-flow, seeks the PC's unique abilities. The mission: infiltrate the blighted ecosystem, understand what is causing the Void-Tree's corrupted bloom (perhaps a parasitic Void-Entity or a rogue bio-engineering experiment), and find a way to restore balance without destroying the ancient flora, a task that might require the Beastkin to navigate hostile terrain in their animal forms and communicate with the twisted plant-creatures.
Beastkin Appeal: This hook directly challenges the Beastkin's core connection to the natural world and their animalistic instincts. The corruption of a powerful Cosmic Flora entity would be deeply unsettling. It offers a chance to use their animal forms for stealth, combat, and unique environmental navigation, and to confront a threat that perverts the very essence of nature.
2. The Hunt for the Mimic-Shifter
Hook: A series of high-profile incidents across a bustling space station or a newly established colony have caused widespread panic: trusted officials have been exposed as imposters, vital data has been subtly altered, and key personnel have gone missing. The culprit is believed to be a dangerous "Mimic-Shifter" – a highly intelligent, shapeshifting xenomorphic entity capable of perfectly impersonating sapient beings. This has led to intense paranoia and prejudice against anyone with unusual physical traits or shapeshifting abilities, including the Beastkin PC, who might find themselves under suspicion. The Beastkin PC's heightened animalistic senses (scent, acute hearing, darkvision) and their own understanding of transformation make them uniquely suited to track and expose the Mimic-Shifter. A Changeling who fears similar prejudice, or a Cerebral Nexus who detects subtle psychic distortions left by the imposter, seeks the PC's help. The mission: use their unique abilities to hunt down the Mimic-Shifter, expose its true identity, and clear the name of all shapeshifters, proving that not all who can change form are monsters.
Beastkin Appeal: This hook plays on the societal prejudice Beastkin often face due to their abilities. It provides a strong motivation to clear their name and protect others from misunderstanding. Their animalistic senses and the ability to shift forms for infiltration or combat would be crucial. It also offers a chance to confront a dangerous "kin" who abuses shapeshifting, forcing the Beastkin to define their own moral boundaries.
3. The Call of the Rift-Beast
Hook: Strange, unsettling howls and roars have begun to echo from a newly unstable Rift-zone in the Frontier, drawing local wildlife into its chaotic depths. Animals that enter the zone emerge mutated, aggressive, and imbued with chaotic Rift-energies, becoming "Rift-Beasts" that attack anything on sight. The Beastkin PC feels a primal, unsettling "Call" from within the Rift-zone – a powerful, instinctual urge to join the mutated creatures, or perhaps to confront the source of their transformation. This "Call" is emanating from a powerful Rift-Entity that is subtly manipulating the local fauna, creating a new, chaotic ecosystem. A Strix who senses the disruption to the natural order, or a Surki drawn by the raw Mana-flux, seeks the PC's help. The mission: venture into the dangerous Rift-zone, understand the nature of the Rift-Beast's "Call," and either find a way to sever the entity's influence over the animals or to contain the spreading chaos, requiring the Beastkin to grapple with their own feral instincts and potentially face a corrupted version of their inherent animal.
Beastkin Appeal: This hook directly challenges the Beastkin's struggle between rationality and instinct. The "Call" from the Rift-Beast would be a powerful, internal conflict. It offers a chance to explore a chaotic, dangerous environment where their animal forms and instincts are essential for survival. The confrontation with a corrupted, animalistic force would be a profound test of their character and their connection to both the wild and their sapient self.
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