Support United Paizo Workers! Click here for more details!
GM > Starship > Starship-Scale Creature List > Stellar Protozoa
Starfinder Alien Archive 2 p.120
N Huge starship vermin
Speed 8; Maneuverability poor (turn 3)
AC 19; TL 19
HP 180; DT 5; CT 36
Shields medium 90 (forward 24, port 22, starboard 22, aft 22)
Attack (Forward) stellar membrane (2d4 plus swallow starship), light cytoplasm launcher (4d6)
Attack (Aft) particle beam (8d6)
Attack (Turret) heavy cytoplasm launcher (6d8)
Power Core stellar protozoa nucleus (250 PCU); Drift Engine none; Systems mk 4 armor, mk 5 defenses; Expansion Bays none
Other Abilities biotic weapons, draining aura, living starship, void adaptation
Engineer (1 action) Engineering +15 (7 ranks)
Gunner (1 action) gunnery +12 (7th level)
Pilot (1 action) +18 (7 ranks)
Environment any vacuum
Organization solitary, pair, or swarm (3–6)
Biotic Weapons (Ex) A stellar protozoa’s flexible body grants
its particle beam the broad arc special property. See the
table on page 121 for cytoplasm weapons.
Draining Aura (Su) A power core within 5 hexes of a stellar
protozoa at the start of a round produces 10 fewer PCUs;
this might force some starship systems, as determined
by the crew, to become inactive. These reduced PCUs
are restored when the stellar protozoa is disabled or
when the power core is no longer within 20 hexes of
the stellar protozoa. Any creature within 5 hexes of a
stellar protozoa at the start of a round gains a temporary
negative level unless it succeeds at a DC 15 Fortitude
saving throw. The stellar protozoa gains no temporary
HP for draining levels. A creature that successfully saves
cannot be affected again by the same stellar protozoa’s
draining aura for 24 hours. These negative levels are
removed if the stellar protozoa is disabled or when the
affected creature is no longer within 20 hexes of the
protozoa. Stellar protozoans are immune to this ability.
Living Starship (Ex) A stellar protozoa is a living creature so
immense that it functions as a starship (and thus engages
only in starship combat). It has no crew, but it can still take
engineer, gunner, and pilot actions using the skill bonuses,
ranks, and level listed in Crew Actions above. Modifiers for
its size, speed, and maneuverability are already factored
into its statistics. Use the following table to determine the
effects when a stellar protozoa takes critical damage.
D% | SYSTEM | EFFECT |
---|---|---|
1–10 | Aura generator | While this system has critical damage, the stellar protozoa cannot drain PCUs or impose negative levels with its draining aura. If this system is wrecked, PCU reductions and negative levels the aura imposed are immediately restored. |
11–40 | Weapons array | Randomly determine one arc containing weapons; condition applies to gunner actions using weapons in that arc. |
41–70 | Propulsion | Condition applies to pilot actions |
71–100 | Nucleus | ondition applies to engineer actions except hold it together and patch. |
Stellar Membrane (Ex) A stellar protozoa can make a stellar
membrane attack against only a Large or smaller starship
that is in its forward firing arc and in a hex adjacent to
the stellar protozoa.
Swallow Starship (Ex) If a stellar protozoa’s stellar
membrane attack deals Hull Point damage to a target,
that vessel is pulled into the stellar protozoa’s body. The
protozoa can hold one Large ship, two Medium ships,
four Small ships, or eight Tiny ships. A vessel takes
4d4 damage each time it starts a round of starship
combat inside the stellar protozoa (divide this
damage equally across all arcs, starting with
the forward arc and proceeding clockwise).
A swallowed starship can still attack, and
the protozoa’s interior has AC 14, TL 14,
and DT 0. However, at such close range,
starship weapons deal half their damage
to the firing ship through a combination
of blowback and the protozoa’s physical
reactions. If a swallowed starship deals
20 Hull Points to the protozoa’s interior,
the ship blows a hole in the creature big
enough to attempt to fly through. During
the helm phase, the pilot of a swallowed
starship can attempt to fly free with a
Piloting check (DC 20, or DC 25 if the
protozoa has no hole in it). On a failure, the
starship remains within the protozoa.
Stellar protozoans are single-celled organisms larger than
some space stations. Mindless and voracious, these creatures
move through space draining energy and consuming matter.
A stellar protozoa has thin flagella that wave erratically.
These flagella serve as a sensing mechanism, keeping the
protozoa apprised of nearby objects. The strands also focus
the protozoa’s biological energy, erecting energy shields and
discharging particle beams. Floating in the center of a stellar
protozoa is a massive nucleus. This nucleus is a rudimentary
brain, communicating through the viscous cytoplasm inside
the protozoa. When a stellar protozoa is in danger, the nucleus
coordinates its movements, shields, and particle beams. In
addition, the nucleus can energize knots of cytoplasm and eject
them through temporary gaps in the creature’s tough exterior.
Stellar protozoans also produce a supernatural field that
drains nearby energy. Within this field, starships lose power,
living creatures weaken, and rotating bodies slow, their energy
drawn away. This field has no effect on stellar protozoans but can
eventually kill other living creatures and drain power sources.
This stolen energy is sufficient to sustain stellar protozoans
indefinitely, but the creatures draw more nourishment from
matter. When a stellar protozoa contacts a source of food—
which is anything smaller than it is—it surrounds the object
and begins breaking it down with corrosive cytoplasm.
High‑energy material, such as that found in starship power
cores, provides it with the most substantive nutrition.
When a stellar protozoa absorbs sufficient food, its nucleus
grows and splits in two, dividing the protozoa into two smaller
creatures. In an area that has sufficient food, the protozoans
can divide rapidly enough to overwhelm the region.
Stellar protozoans instinctively avoid gravity wells and don’t
venture near stars or planets—a tendency that canny pilots
can use to escape the creatures’ attention. Although a stellar
protozoa isn’t capable of entering or exiting the Drift on its own,
travelers have spotted the creatures floating in Drift space,
likely unable to leave after being pulled into the extraplanar
realm by some other force.
Website owned by Mark von Drake. All content on this website owned by Paizo Inc. Privacy policy can be found here.
Contact: markvondrake@thehiddentruth.info