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Archives of Nethys

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Custom Species Builder

Physiology

Source Interstellar Species pg. 44
n determining the species’s appearance, you can use the tables above, inspirations from other media, or a mashup of both. Regardless, consider how a home world and evolutionary (or other) pressures might have shaped, or continue to shape, its physiology.
Consider how members of your species differ in appearance and physiology. What does your species eat? What eats your species? Are there other creatures on their home world, sapient or otherwise, that share similar physiological traits? Do these other creatures have traits that counter or complement your species’ traits? What advantages or challenges might your species face in an environment built for humans?
You might have already chosen a creature type in a different step. If not, you can roll a random one on Table 2–5: Creature Type. You might want your creature type to inform your species’ general body shape and exterior, but you can roll on Table 2–3: Body Shape and Exterior for random choices to get some interesting combinations!
Likewise, you might know what limbs your species has, but you can also randomly determine those limbs and how many there are by rolling 4d6 and using Table 2–4. The first d6 roll determines the number of upper limbs your species has. The second roll tells you what type of limbs those are. Similarly, the third roll tells you the number of limbs your species uses for locomotion, and the fourth roll tells you what kind they are (though you can just reuse your second result if you want your species’ limbs to be consistent).
Note that even a species with 0 or 1 manipulation limbs is still considered to be able to wield two hands’ worth of equipment. If your species has 3 or more limbs, consider giving it the multiarmed universal creature rule as one of its special abilities, though you might decide that one or more limbs are extraneous, vestigial, or otherwise unable to hold and wield objects. Either way, limit the multiarmed ability to 6 or fewer limbs.