Races

The Starfinder Roleplaying Game is about more than just meeting aliens—it’s also about playing alien characters. In Starfinder, the word “race” usually refers to an intelligent, selfaware species whose members can be considered characters rather than simple monsters. While not all races are appropriate for player characters, many of them are; any creature with a racial traits entry is a member of a potentially playable race, provided that your GM approves it.

Android Source Starfinder Core Rulebook pg. 42 Complex technological creations crafted to resemble humans, androids were originally a servitor race, but they have since broken free to form their own society. Unlike ordinary robots or ship AIs, androids do not simply respond according to their programming; rather, they have independent consciousnesses and are animated by souls—a distinction crucial to their generally accepted status as people rather than property. Ability Modifiers +2 Dex, +2 Int, -2 Cha Hit Points 4 Size and Type Androids are Medium humanoids with the android subtype. Constructed For effects targeting creatures by type, androids count as both constructs and humanoids (whichever type allows an ability to affect them for abilities that affect only one type, and whichever is worse for abilities that affect both types). They receive a +2 racial bonus to saving throws against disease, mind-affecting effects, poison, and sleep, unless those effects specifically target constructs. In addition, androids do not breathe or suffer the normal environmental effects of being in a vacuum. Exceptional Vision Androids have darkvision with a range of 60 feet and low-light vision. See pages 263–264 for more information. Flat Affect Androids find emotions confusing and keep them bottled up. They take a –2 penalty to Sense Motive checks, but the DCs of Sense Motive checks attempted against them increase by 2. Upgrade Slot Androids have a single armor upgrade slot in their bodies. Regardless of whether androids are wearing physical armor, they can use this slot to install any one armor upgrade that could be installed into light armor. About the Android Playing this Race You Likely... Are rational, quick-thinking, and a careful planner, always mindful of potential escape routes. Distrust authority and assume others want to take advantage of you. Have a natural understanding of machines and respect them. Judge people by how they treat animals, robots, and servants. Other Races Probably... Have trouble reading your emotions or assume you don’t have them. Are jealous of your constructed body and lack of aging. See you as somehow inferior to purely biological life-forms. Experience difficulty following your quick, complex logical processes. Physical Description Androids are biomechanical constructs created in technological crèches called foundries. While the first androids are believed to have been mostly biological, difficult to distinguish from the humans they lived among, modern designs are more varied, and many favor metal skeletons and processors that support synthetic organs and living flesh. Nearly all androids feature a humanoid body shape and tattoo-like circuits that glow through their skin when operating at full power, but beyond this commonality, variations in physical appearance reflect an android’s design, role, and personality. Some take pains to blend into human society, while others deliberately display their mechanical nature. Though some androids are constructed or customize themselves to look like other races, such models are relatively rare. Due to their biological components, androids need to eat and sleep, but as constructed beings they do not reproduce in the human fashion and have no biological need for gender—some identify strongly as male or female, while others shift fluidly or ignore it altogether, and still others actively reject it on philosophical grounds as a relic of their former slavery. Though android bodies are assembled using tiny machines called nanites, their complex nervous systems attract and integrate souls in the same way organic creatures do. Most androids are fully grown at the time of their birth, and can technically live forever through constant repair, though most androids voluntarily release their bodies after a century or so to allow new souls to inhabit them—a process called renewal that’s viewed more as procreation than suicide. Home World Android technology in the Pact Worlds is generally believed to have developed on Golarion in the time before the Gap, though there are strong indications that the first androids there were actually travelers from a distant star system. In the modern era, various corporations throughout the Pact Worlds system unraveled the secret to android creation and began massproducing androids as cheap, skilled labor perfect for hazardous work. This practice lasted until about 150 years ago, when the Thyst Rebellion and subsequent android revolts across the system, combined with the now legendary speech known as “The Automaton’s Polemic” by android revolutionary Serphaeus-6, led governments system-wide to officially recognize all androids as independent citizens. This ruling, however, has not completely stopped unscrupulous corporations in less regulated parts of the system from crafting illegal android slaves or forcing newborn androids to “work off” the expense of their creation. Though androids can be found anywhere in the Pact Worlds, many gravitate toward cosmopolitan Absalom Station, the machine cities of Aballon, and the freedom of the Diaspora. Society and Alignment Android society tends to be insular. While androids are treated equitably in most settlements, especially Absalom Station, many androids have not forgotten their people’s bondage and remain keenly aware of prejudice from other races based on their “unnatural” origin or jealousy over the androids’ freedom from aging. This leads most androids to feel a sense of kinship with others of their kind and to go out of their way to help each other, though they may also bond with members of other races who treat them well. Despite popular belief, androids’ impressive deductive reasoning abilities do not preclude sentiment, and most androids feel emotions keenly—they simply don’t always express them well, and different individuals may have trouble processing and communicating particular feelings. The average android alignment is a practical neutrality; they are focused on their own welfare and that of their friends. Relations Often cautious around strangers, androids have the most strained relationship with humanity, which built them in its image and remains their most frequent oppressor. They feel closest to shirrens, who also know what it is to be enslaved and misunderstood, and respect kasathas’ self-sufficiency. They generally dislike vesk, whom they see as slavers, and only grudgingly tolerate ysoki’s antics. Adventurers Androids adventure for many reasons: to earn a living, trace the origins of their race, or rescue androids and other creatures from servitude. Their quick thinking under fire makes them natural operatives and soldiers, while their affinity for machines makes them excellent mechanics and technomancers. Names Androids have no single naming convention. Many take names from the cultures in which they first awoke, or from media they enjoy. Some accept call sign–like names based on appearance, personality, or exploits. Still others go by numbers as a deliberate reminder of their mechanical nature, or a combination of name and number denoting how many times the body their soul inhabits has been renewed. Some sample android names include Asha, Blue-17, Emene-3, Flick, Garro, Iseph, Melody, Naga, Olas, Stringer, Twenty, and Yose. Vital Stats Average Height 5-7 ft. Average Weight 100-200 lbs. Age of Maturity — Maximum Age See Android entry Alternate Ability Adjustments Source Character Operations Manual pg. 16 Some androids defy the norms for their species. These androids have ability score adjustments they use instead of the standard adjustments of +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, and -2 Charisma found in the Starfinder Core Rulebook. Companion Source Character Operations Manual pg. 16 A niche but lucrative market before android emancipation was the construction of androids to serve as companions, often as supplemental members of a family. These androids have better personality matrices and might have fewer signs of artificial construction. A companion android has an ability adjustment of +2 Charisma. Laborer Source Character Operations Manual pg. 16 Laborer androids were created to perform menial tasks and endure the hardships of space. In many regions, they were considered corporate property for far longer than typical androids. A laborer android’s ability adjustments are +2 Strength, +2 Constitution, and -2 Charisma. Alternate Racial Traits Source Character Operations Manual pg. 16 Most androids have the standard android racial traits detailed in the Core Rulebook, but individuals might have unique abilities, represented by the following alternate racial traits. Easily Augmented Source Character Operations Manual pg. 16 As artificial creatures, androids are compatible with a wide array of cybernetics. Androids who have this racial trait can install one additional cybernetic augmentation into one system that already has an augmentation. This replaces upgrade slot. Impersonation Matrix Source Character Operations Manual pg. 16 Although most androids stand out as artificial beings, some have intricate personality matrices and physical alterations that downplay their constructed nature. Androids who have this alternate racial trait don’t take any penalty to Disguise checks to change their appearance to a creature of a different race or type if they are disguising themselves as a human. If the android also has the xenometric android alternate racial trait (see page 17), this benefit instead applies to Disguise checks to change appearance to that of the race chosen along with the xenometric android alternate racial trait. This replaces the +2 racial bonus to saving throws against disease, mind-affecting effects, poison, and sleep from the constructed trait. The android retains all the other features of the constructed trait. Infosphere Integration Source Character Operations Manual pg. 16 The artificial brain an android possesses can allow better compatibility with infospheres and direct downloads of information. An android with this trait has a built-in comm unit that can be accessed without needing to use their hands. Once per day, whenever the android takes a 10-minute rest to regain Stamina Points, they can choose one Intelligence-, Wisdom-, or Charisma-based skill. The chosen skill becomes a class skill for them, and they gain Skill Focus as a bonus feat with that skill. This decision lasts until the next time the android uses this trait. This replaces exceptional vision. Multilingual Source Character Operations Manual pg. 17 New languages are easy for some androids to learn. An android with this racial trait knows four additional languages at 1st level. In addition, whenever such an android invests a skill rank into Culture, they learn two new languages instead of one. This replaces upgrade slot. Nanite Upgrade Source Character Operations Manual pg. 17 Specialized nanites maintain an android body, but they can be upgraded to perform additional tasks. Androids who have this racial trait gain Nanite Integration as a bonus feat, ignoring the feat’s prerequisites. This replaces upgrade slot. Xenometric Android Source Character Operations Manual pg. 17 Although most androids are manufactured to resemble humans, those crafted in the likenesses of other species exist. Such “xenometrics” possess abilities that mirror those of other races, sometimes even using hybrid tech to duplicate magic abilities. An android with this trait selects one of the species detailed in the paragraphs below. This choice cannot be changed. In addition to possessing physical features resembling those of the chosen species, the android’s size category and reach changes to match the chosen race. In addition, xenometric androids gain some of the chosen species’ racial traits, which are noted in parentheses next to the race’s name; these count as racial traits for the purposes of prerequisites. If a gained racial trait determines land speed, the android uses the speed as defined by that racial trait instead of that of the android. If the chosen species has a different type than humanoid, the xenometric android’s type changes to match. Starfinder Core Rulebook options are dwarf (darkvision, slow but steady), elf (elven immunities, low-light vision), gnome (gnome magic, low-light vision), half-elf (adaptability, low-light vision), half-orc (darkvision, intimidating, self-sufficient), halfling (keen senses, sneaky, sure-footed), kasatha (four-armed, natural grace), lashunta (lashunta magic, limited telepathy), shirren (blindsense, limited telepathy), vesk (low-light vision, natural weapons), and ysoki (cheek pouches, darkvision). Starfinder Alien Archive options are dragonkin (draconic immunities, flight), formian (limited telepathy, natural weapons), haan (firespray, slow fall), kalo (kalo movement, kalo vision), maraquoi (blindsense, prehensile tail), nuar (natural weapons, swift), verthani (skill focus, skin mimic), and wrikreechee (snag, wrikreechee movement). Starfinder Alien Archive 2 options are hobgoblin (fearsome, sneaky), orc (fierce survivalist, orc ferocity), pahtra (nimble, talented), and vlaka (cold resistance, perceptive). The Starfinder Pact Worlds option is the strix (nightborn, strix mobility). This replaces upgrade slot and exceptional vision.

Android

Source Starfinder Core Rulebook pg. 42
Complex technological creations crafted to resemble humans, androids were originally a servitor race, but they have since broken free to form their own society. Unlike ordinary robots or ship AIs, androids do not simply respond according to their programming; rather, they have independent consciousnesses and are animated by souls—a distinction crucial to their generally accepted status as people rather than property.

Ability Modifiers +2 Dex, +2 Int, -2 Cha
Hit Points 4

Size and Type

Androids are Medium humanoids with the android subtype.

Constructed

For effects targeting creatures by type, androids count as both constructs and humanoids (whichever type allows an ability to affect them for abilities that affect only one type, and whichever is worse for abilities that affect both types). They receive a +2 racial bonus to saving throws against disease, mind-affecting effects, poison, and sleep, unless those effects specifically target constructs. In addition, androids do not breathe or suffer the normal environmental effects of being in a vacuum.

Exceptional Vision

Androids have darkvision with a range of 60 feet and low-light vision. See pages 263–264 for more information.

Flat Affect

Androids find emotions confusing and keep them bottled up. They take a –2 penalty to Sense Motive checks, but the DCs of Sense Motive checks attempted against them increase by 2.

Upgrade Slot

Androids have a single armor upgrade slot in their bodies. Regardless of whether androids are wearing physical armor, they can use this slot to install any one armor upgrade that could be installed into light armor.

About the Android

Playing this Race

You Likely...

Are rational, quick-thinking, and a careful planner, always mindful of potential escape routes.
Distrust authority and assume others want to take advantage of you.
Have a natural understanding of machines and respect them.
Judge people by how they treat animals, robots, and servants.

Other Races Probably...

Have trouble reading your emotions or assume you don’t have them.
Are jealous of your constructed body and lack of aging.
See you as somehow inferior to purely biological life-forms.
Experience difficulty following your quick, complex logical processes.

Physical Description

Androids are biomechanical constructs created in technological crèches called foundries. While the first androids are believed to have been mostly biological, difficult to distinguish from the humans they lived among, modern designs are more varied, and many favor metal skeletons and processors that support synthetic organs and living flesh. Nearly all androids feature a humanoid body shape and tattoo-like circuits that glow through their skin when operating at full power, but beyond this commonality, variations in physical appearance reflect an android’s design, role, and personality. Some take pains to blend into human society, while others deliberately display their mechanical nature. Though some androids are constructed or customize themselves to look like other races, such models are relatively rare. Due to their biological components, androids need to eat and sleep, but as constructed beings they do not reproduce in the human fashion and have no biological need for gender—some identify strongly as male or female, while others shift fluidly or ignore it altogether, and still others actively reject it on philosophical grounds as a relic of their former slavery.

Though android bodies are assembled using tiny machines called nanites, their complex nervous systems attract and integrate souls in the same way organic creatures do. Most androids are fully grown at the time of their birth, and can technically live forever through constant repair, though most androids voluntarily release their bodies after a century or so to allow new souls to inhabit them—a process called renewal that’s viewed more as procreation than suicide.

Home World

Android technology in the Pact Worlds is generally believed to have developed on Golarion in the time before the Gap, though there are strong indications that the first androids there were actually travelers from a distant star system. In the modern era, various corporations throughout the Pact Worlds system unraveled the secret to android creation and began massproducing androids as cheap, skilled labor perfect for hazardous work. This practice lasted until about 150 years ago, when the Thyst Rebellion and subsequent android revolts across the system, combined with the now legendary speech known as “The Automaton’s Polemic” by android revolutionary Serphaeus-6, led governments system-wide to officially recognize all androids as independent citizens. This ruling, however, has not completely stopped unscrupulous corporations in less regulated parts of the system from crafting illegal android slaves or forcing newborn androids to “work off” the expense of their creation. Though androids can be found anywhere in the Pact Worlds, many gravitate toward cosmopolitan Absalom Station, the machine cities of Aballon, and the freedom of the Diaspora.

Society and Alignment

Android society tends to be insular. While androids are treated equitably in most settlements, especially Absalom Station, many androids have not forgotten their people’s bondage and remain keenly aware of prejudice from other races based on their “unnatural” origin or jealousy over the androids’ freedom from aging. This leads most androids to feel a sense of kinship with others of their kind and to go out of their way to help each other, though they may also bond with members of other races who treat them well. Despite popular belief, androids’ impressive deductive reasoning abilities do not preclude sentiment, and most androids feel emotions keenly—they simply don’t always express them well, and different individuals may have trouble processing and communicating particular feelings. The average android alignment is a practical neutrality; they are focused on their own welfare and that of their friends.

Relations

Often cautious around strangers, androids have the most strained relationship with humanity, which built them in its image and remains their most frequent oppressor. They feel closest to shirrens, who also know what it is to be enslaved and misunderstood, and respect kasathas’ self-sufficiency. They generally dislike vesk, whom they see as slavers, and only grudgingly tolerate ysoki’s antics.

Adventurers

Androids adventure for many reasons: to earn a living, trace the origins of their race, or rescue androids and other creatures from servitude. Their quick thinking under fire makes them natural operatives and soldiers, while their affinity for machines makes them excellent mechanics and technomancers.

Names

Androids have no single naming convention. Many take names from the cultures in which they first awoke, or from media they enjoy. Some accept call sign–like names based on appearance, personality, or exploits. Still others go by numbers as a deliberate reminder of their mechanical nature, or a combination of name and number denoting how many times the body their soul inhabits has been renewed. Some sample android names include Asha, Blue-17, Emene-3, Flick, Garro, Iseph, Melody, Naga, Olas, Stringer, Twenty, and Yose.

Vital Stats

Average Height 5-7 ft.
Average Weight 100-200 lbs.
Age of Maturity —
Maximum Age See Android entry

Alternate Ability Adjustments

Source Character Operations Manual pg. 16
Some androids defy the norms for their species. These androids have ability score adjustments they use instead of the standard adjustments of +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, and -2 Charisma found in the Starfinder Core Rulebook.

Companion

Source Character Operations Manual pg. 16
A niche but lucrative market before android emancipation was the construction of androids to serve as companions, often as supplemental members of a family. These androids have better personality matrices and might have fewer signs of artificial construction. A companion android has an ability adjustment of +2 Charisma.

Laborer

Source Character Operations Manual pg. 16
Laborer androids were created to perform menial tasks and endure the hardships of space. In many regions, they were considered corporate property for far longer than typical androids. A laborer android’s ability adjustments are +2 Strength, +2 Constitution, and -2 Charisma.

Alternate Racial Traits

Source Character Operations Manual pg. 16
Most androids have the standard android racial traits detailed in the Core Rulebook, but individuals might have unique abilities, represented by the following alternate racial traits.

Easily Augmented

Source Character Operations Manual pg. 16
As artificial creatures, androids are compatible with a wide array of cybernetics. Androids who have this racial trait can install one additional cybernetic augmentation into one system that already has an augmentation. This replaces upgrade slot.

Impersonation Matrix

Source Character Operations Manual pg. 16
Although most androids stand out as artificial beings, some have intricate personality matrices and physical alterations that downplay their constructed nature. Androids who have this alternate racial trait don’t take any penalty to Disguise checks to change their appearance to a creature of a different race or type if they are disguising themselves as a human. If the android also has the xenometric android alternate racial trait (see page 17), this benefit instead applies to Disguise checks to change appearance to that of the race chosen along with the xenometric android alternate racial trait.

This replaces the +2 racial bonus to saving throws against disease, mind-affecting effects, poison, and sleep from the constructed trait. The android retains all the other features of the constructed trait.

Infosphere Integration

Source Character Operations Manual pg. 16
The artificial brain an android possesses can allow better compatibility with infospheres and direct downloads of information. An android with this trait has a built-in comm unit that can be accessed without needing to use their hands. Once per day, whenever the android takes a 10-minute rest to regain Stamina Points, they can choose one Intelligence-, Wisdom-, or Charisma-based skill. The chosen skill becomes a class skill for them, and they gain Skill Focus as a bonus feat with that skill. This decision lasts until the next time the android uses this trait.

This replaces exceptional vision.

Multilingual

Source Character Operations Manual pg. 17
New languages are easy for some androids to learn. An android with this racial trait knows four additional languages at 1st level. In addition, whenever such an android invests a skill rank into Culture, they learn two new languages instead of one.

This replaces upgrade slot.

Nanite Upgrade

Source Character Operations Manual pg. 17
Specialized nanites maintain an android body, but they can be upgraded to perform additional tasks. Androids who have this racial trait gain Nanite Integration as a bonus feat, ignoring the feat’s prerequisites.
This replaces upgrade slot.

Xenometric Android

Source Character Operations Manual pg. 17
Although most androids are manufactured to resemble humans, those crafted in the likenesses of other species exist. Such “xenometrics” possess abilities that mirror those of other races, sometimes even using hybrid tech to duplicate magic abilities.

An android with this trait selects one of the species detailed in the paragraphs below. This choice cannot be changed. In addition to possessing physical features resembling those of the chosen species, the android’s size category and reach changes to match the chosen race. In addition, xenometric androids gain some of the chosen species’ racial traits, which are noted in parentheses next to the race’s name; these count as racial traits for the purposes of prerequisites. If a gained racial trait determines land speed, the android uses the speed as defined by that racial trait instead of that of the android. If the chosen species has a different type than humanoid, the xenometric android’s type changes to match.

Starfinder Core Rulebook options are dwarf (darkvision, slow but steady), elf (elven immunities, low-light vision), gnome (gnome magic, low-light vision), half-elf (adaptability, low-light vision), half-orc (darkvision, intimidating, self-sufficient), halfling (keen senses, sneaky, sure-footed), kasatha (four-armed, natural grace), lashunta (lashunta magic, limited telepathy), shirren (blindsense, limited telepathy), vesk (low-light vision, natural weapons), and ysoki (cheek pouches, darkvision).

Starfinder Alien Archive options are dragonkin (draconic immunities, flight), formian (limited telepathy, natural weapons), haan (firespray, slow fall), kalo (kalo movement, kalo vision), maraquoi (blindsense, prehensile tail), nuar (natural weapons, swift), verthani (skill focus, skin mimic), and wrikreechee (snag, wrikreechee movement).

Starfinder Alien Archive 2 options are hobgoblin (fearsome, sneaky), orc (fierce survivalist, orc ferocity), pahtra (nimble, talented), and vlaka (cold resistance, perceptive).

The Starfinder Pact Worlds option is the strix (nightborn, strix mobility).

This replaces upgrade slot and exceptional vision.

Archives of Nethys