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Starship-Scale Creature List > Novaspawn
Novaspawn TIER 8
Starfinder Alien Archive p.84
N Huge starship aberration
Speed 6; Maneuverability poor (turn 3)
AC 22; TL 20
HP 200; DT 5; CT 40
Shields medium 100 (forward 25, port 25, starboard 25, aft 25)
Attack (Forward) tentacles +12 (4d4 plus immobilize), particle beam +12 (8d6)
Attack (Port) heavy laser cannon +12 (4d8)
Attack (Starboard) heavy laser cannon +12 (4d8)
Attack (Aft) heavy laser cannon +12 (4d8)
Skills Engineering +16, Piloting +20
Power Core novaspawn heart (250 PCU); Drift Engine none; Systems mk 6 armor, mk 5 defenses; Expansion Bays none
Other Abilities living starship, no breath
Ecology
Environment any vacuum
Organization solitary
Special Abilities
Living Starship (Ex) While a novaspawn is a living
creature, it is so immense that it functions as
a starship (and thus engages in only starship
combat). Though it has no crew, it can still take
engineer, gunner, and pilot actions (one of each,
in the appropriate phases) using the skill bonuses
listed above. Modifiers for its size, speed, and
maneuverability have already been factored into its
statistics. Assume it has 8 ranks in the Engineering
and Piloting skills and a base attack bonus of +8. Use
the following table to determine the effects when a
novaspawn takes critical damage. The novaspawn’s
brain doesn’t take critical damage conditions.
D% | SYSTEM | EFFECT |
1–30 | Weapons array | Randomly determine one arc containing weapons; condition applies to all gunner actions using weapons in that arc |
31–60 | Propulsion | Condition applies to all pilot actions |
61–90 | Heart | Condition applies to all engineer actions, except when patching or repairing the heart |
91–100 | Brain | During the next round, each of the novaspawn's attempted actions have a 25% chance of failure. |
Tentacles (Ex) The gigantic tentacles
dangling from a novaspawn’s forward arc
are powerful enough to grab a starship
and hold it in place, making it easier for
the novaspawn to blast the vessel with
its particle beam. A novaspawn can
make a tentacles attack only against
a Large or smaller starship that is in
its forward firing arc and in a hex
adjacent to the novaspawn. If the
attack deals Hull Point damage to
the target, that vessel can’t move
unless its pilot succeeds at a DC 27
Piloting check as an action during
the helm phase. A starship that is
immobilized in this way takes a −2 penalty to its AC and
Target Lock.
Description
Novaspawn are rare, enormous creatures of silicon and
steellike flesh that live in the vacuum of space. They feed on
cosmic radiation and travel with a purpose that no scientist has
been able to fully fathom. No one is certain where they come
from or exactly how long they live. However, scholars have
discovered records that hint that at the end of a novaspawn’s
life cycle, it undergoes a devastating transformation to
become a new star. This phenomenon has been named “solar
parturition,†though no currently living mortal has seen it
occur. Most speculate that the process would burn nearby
planets to cinders and irrevocably alter the climate of others
farther away.
Novaspawn are generally peaceful, and they often
react to outside stimuli in ways that most people don’t
understand. However, if antagonized, one of these
spacefaring creatures can devastate smaller starships with
ease, as its crystalline protrusions can convert internal
electrical currents into blasts of energy much like those
of standard laser cannons. A novaspawn also generates its
own protective shields using its aberrant biology, which
some believe is as much magical as it is scientific.
Older Novaspawn
The stat block above represents a novaspawn
in an early stage of its maturation—such a
novaspawn is still older than some civilizations.
Older novaspawn can grow to Colossal starship
size, dwarfing even the mightiest of warships.
Novaspawn of such size are foes of a much
higher tier, and their armaments function as
capital weapons.
Solar Parturition (CR 14)
In rare occasions, a novaspawn that is
ill or under malign influences undergoes
the process of parturition dangerously
close to an inhabited planet or immobile
space station. While the process
isn’t instantaneous, it still doesn’t
leave enough to time to evacuate an
entire world or crowded facility and
get the residents to a safe distance
(at least several hundred thousand
miles away). However, all is not lost
for these unfortunate souls. A group of
adventurers brave enough to face a series
of demanding challenges can stop a
novaspawn’s parturition before its completion.
During a novaspawn’s transformation,
it remains still and its outer defenses
are powered down. An intrepid starship
crew can then approach and “board†the novaspawn by
climbing into one of the heat dispersal vents located on its
dorsal side. Since the novaspawn requires as much as heat
as possible during the parturition process, these vents are
completely sealed, but they can be cut open (a vent has 240
Hit Points and hardness 25) or forced open (DC 40 Strength
check). Involuntary muscle contractions reseal the vent 3d4
rounds later.
Once inside, the heroes must navigate the novaspawn’s
twisting internal passageways while dealing with the
growing heat and radiation. With a successful DC 30 Life
Science check, they can find their way to the novaspawn’s
heart in 2d6+7 minutes (each successive attempt requires
an additional 1d6 minutes). However, every minute spent
inside, each hero must succeed at a DC 20 Fortitude check
or take 10 fire damage. The novaspawn’s heart must then
be “deactivated†to halt the transformation, which requires
six successful DC 36 skill checks (any combination of
Engineering, Life Science, and Mysticism checks). Any
character in the novaspawn’s heart chamber is subjected to
a high level of radiation; those outside are not.
If this complex process of magic and science is stopped, the
novaspawn dies, but it won’t explode unless someone brings
it back to life, which would require a powerful occult process
or an intricate technological procedure.
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