#hanakan

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Class Feature Friday: Geneturge Connection (Mystic Connection)

(art by PrawnM on DeviantArt)

Biology is a fascinating subject. Life as we know it is basically tons of individual cells, many working together to create one organism that lives and interacts with the world, and even those cells are simply an arrangement of structures undergoing various chemical processes in a self-perpetuating way.

With the constant interplay between processes, cells, and even organisms on the ecological scale, is it any wonder that there would be a mystic connection associated with such things?

Enter the Geneturge, a mystic that derives magical power from not just the natural interplay of biological processes, but also modifying and refining them! (That’s right, the character option about biology actively supports modifying that biology).

In a way, geneturges are almost a different flavor of biological evolutionists, able to change themselves as needed, but focused more on magic than they are on fluidity of form. Whether this is a different expression of the same path or two different paths with the same destination is a matter for the scholars, and may vary indeed by individual case.

The end result is a mage that packs a lot of different bio augs and can change them up on the fly, whether they seek personal apotheosis, see such augmentation as the next step in evolution, or perhaps worship sinister gods of mutation and see such transformations as a delightful perversion of nature.

The magic associated with this connection includes sensing the augmentations of others and even forcing the body of a foe to reject such implants as a weapon of self-defense, removing afflictions and regenerating from harm, altering memories on a cellular level, and even altering the body to be able to climb on walls. (I forget if this option came out before or after the addition of the polymorph spells, though I will remark if it did come out after it is weird they didn’t include that)

Geneturges alter their bodies to improve their function, and they gain potential to provide a passive buff based on the organs they focus on, such as improving their skin to gain resistance to environmental effects, or their eyes to sharpen their vision to better ignore concealment, and so on.

Where things get interesting is altering their genes and augmentations on the fly. This take three forms, either shifting their augmenting potential to provide the passive buff to another area of the body, temporarily suppressing an installed augmentation to have it provide a passive buff instead, or slightly alter an existing aug to have a different result, such as changing a dragon gland to provide a different elemental breath weapon.

As they refine their own bodies, these mystics can change them even further, gaining more potential to upgrade multiple organs, and also improving one of those organs to accept a second augmentation with no complications.

By reaching out and warping a foe’s body, they can turn their own immune systems against them, weakening them and even causing them to be unable to access active abilities of biotech augs temporarily.

Many augs need time to be recharged between uses, and not all of them can be pushed further with Resolve. However, geneturges can get around that, not only using resolve to fuel one of their own augs psychically, but being able to do the same to a telepathically-linked ally using their own augs.

Sometimes one needs a specific aug at a specific time, and by rewriting their genetic code on the fly, these mystics can do just that, gaining an aug they don’t have temporarily to answer their needs.

Their total control over their own bodies doesn’t make these bio-mages immune to disease, but it does give them a massive edge, not only vastly improving their immune systems, but allowing them to actively fight off the disease with concentrated effort.

This option is fun if you want to play a caster but also have a lot of augmentations for a mixed mage and combat character. Being able to shuffle around minor buffs to systems you haven’t added augs to yet is fun, as is temporarily gaining augs when needed, so be sure to keep a list of useful personal mods and augs that would be useful for utility and combat reasons. Additionally, I would highly recommend taking the polymorph spell and upgrading it to higher levels later, giving you so many extra forms whether you cast it at your highest level or undercast it for lesser situations with even more forms.

I can’t look at this option and not think that it is defined by euphoria no matter what the character’s motivations for tapping into this connection. Whether they are seeking their own perfected form, or find divine providence in the act of changing, these mystics see transforming as an act of joy and becoming, in a way that is not dissimilar to the evolutionist class. So I can imagine that geneturges and evolutionists will have a lot to talk about, even if they seek their apotheosis in a non-biological way.

According to the old stories, the xulgath ruled over a great empire in ancient times, before they lost much and were left a shadow of their former selves. Some ambitious and ruthless individuals try to recapture that glory. Mingana is not one of them. Instead, she looks instead to the future, of what her people can be, not just culturally, but biologically with her biomantic arts.

The sport of spell duels is an ever-evolving field, of which the rules and regulations can barely keep up. So when geneturge mystics are brought in by the hanakan team to oversee all manner of biotech augmentations and support, there is a rush by every other team to get the same, not to mention the sudden fashionable status that biotech has among fans.

The cult of the Great Blot is eager to corrupt and twist all life, including their own flesh to undo any semblance of natural order in favor of rampant, misshapen fecundity, akin to a malignant tumor on an ecological scale. However, if there is anything they despise more than uncorrupted life, it is cyberware, which they view as a shackle on biological purpose.

[etchasketchyart]

A Starfinder commission, this is Xatxo, a Hanakan Mystic!

[promilie]

A "reformed" former pirate queen Hanakan for Starfinder. As hanakans are distrustful of electronic technology she has altered her personal shield emitters to run on magic crystals instead.

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The cast of Eye of Rahmel-Ta, a Starfinder TTRPG game where 5 rowdy hanakan dinos go on an adventure and learn about this wild and crazy thing called “technology”.

The character I played is Brill! The swampy looking one with the flowers.

Link to some portrait details Link to Ep 1 of 7

[dailycharacteroption]

Class Feature Friday: Ghost Specialization (Operative Specialization)

(art by James Zapata on Artstation)

  Stealth is the best friend of any operative worth their price tag, but few are more skilled in stealth than those that are called “ghosts” by those they leave unaware of their presence until much, much later.

If a ghost does their job well, nobody will be the wiser to their presence during a job, whether they are a thief, an assassin, a spy, or some other form of especially stealthy operative. And if someone somehow catches wise to their presence, they are adept at taking down such witnesses and regaining control of the mission.

Now, obviously all ghost operatives are skilled at remaining unseen, but many also master the art of hiding in plain sight as well. After all, darkness, concealment, and a cloaking device are not always viable options. Heck, any and every tool that could help in their work is worth considering as long as it doesn’t slow them down

With that in mind, the ghost is perhaps one of the more straightforward types of operatives, but they are good at what they do.

 Agility and stealth are what these operatives specialize in, and they find attacks from stealth to be all the easier.

Naturally, ghosts eventually get their own cloaking field. Which not true invisibility, they become extremely hard to spot while using it as light bends around them by magical or technological methods. However, without any upgrades it only lasts about a minute, forcing them to rely on traditional stealth most of the time.

More powerful agents can live up to their name and activate a phase shifter to pass through solid matter for a brief moment, which can be used for infiltration or escape, though doing so requires some resolve and can only be done once a day.

As a primarily stealth-based class, this option seems like the most “vanilla” option, but it’s a good one. Getting cloaking field early means you don’t have to set aside an exploit to get it if you want the superior upgraded version later on. No matter your build, you’ll probably want to line up a perfect first shot in combat and duck and weave out of a foe’s sensory range to keep them swiping at shadows. Outside of combat, I recommend focusing on buffing your skills up in a variety of categories so that you can back up your stealth with other ways to sneak in and out without anyone ever noticing, such as athletics, acrobatics, computers, and even engineering.

 It might be easy to assume these operatives are loners that rarely interact with others, and while that may be true for some, consider that who they are while on the job may be very different than who they are off the job. That being said, they are very unlikely to crack jokes or be very talkative while working, as a breach of professionalism in this line of work can be deadly.

  Grim as graveyard and cold as ice, the bleachling gnome Viccus is one of the greatest assassins you’ve never heard of, his skills as a silent assassin leaving behind nothing but bodies and rumors. However, one has to assume that he might have once had a happier life somewhere, far away.

 Strangely untalented at magic for a hanakan, Ashuu managed to perfect one mystical trick, the art of concealing his presence, and so he put that to good use as an agent, slipping in and out of locations, particularly the holdings of corporations that have gotten a bit too eager to exploit what they consider a low-tech backwater world.

 Hired as bodyguards for a high-profile diplomatic meeting, the party stumbles upon a shadowy figure attempting to break into the suite of the ambassador their client was meeting with. However, bringing him in must be done carefully to prevent an intergalactic incident.

[miirshroom-art]

Ink sketches from the first half of October.

Some of the alien species from Starfinder ttrpg doing sci-fi stuff.

[dailycharacteroption]

Audocyte (Starfinder Archetype)

(art by cozylittleartblog on DeviantArt)

Everyone knows a hot beat can mean the difference between productivity and a frustrated headache, both in work and play. The human brain is, after all, built to latch onto patterns or even the illusion of patterns, which is why we have music in the first place.

When using music while working, our brains latch onto the rhythm and use that to set the pace of our work, allowing us to work faster, more precisely, and more tirelessly ‘til the work is done.

And so I present audocytes, an archetype representing characters that really, really like music, and study, either informally or formally, how to use music to optimize performance in themselves or others and have fun doing it.

They may get noise complaints or annoyed stares from people that dislike someone blasting their music in public, but audocytes work and play to their own literal soundtrack, with little care for what others think.

Starting off, these musical aficionados have a set of music they can play that bolsters their ability to perform one skill, at the cost of hindering their ability to notice the world around them.

They can even play that music for their allies, giving them the same benefits, though of course they need a way for their allies to hear it. Either by playing it aloud or directly into their comm devices.

At this point, the audocyte can choose to either gain normal class features, or new song genres, each of which improves a different skill, while also refining the previous tracks and mixes to give greater benefits.

More skilled audocytes can even weaponize their music against foes, unleashing a deafening blast that can impair hearing, distract, and even overwhelm the senses to the point they can barely act for several seconds.

This is a fun archetype, very reminiscent of the bard from Pathfinder. However, they don’t get combat abilities until later on, instead focusing on skills. Depending on what class and build you’re playing, this archetype can be used to bolster your favorite skills when you need to lock in and ignore outside stimuli and focus on the task. The ability to provide this bonus to allies as well is fun, but probably should mostly be used when the party is all rolling the same sort of non-perception skills, such as athletics and acrobatics during a chase scene. Just remember to keep your allies close so they can warn you if something is about to interrupt your sick jams.

Part of the absolute fun of this archetype is coming up with whatever fantastical future musical genres your audocyte listens to. Researching such things can be a great way to discover music that you yourself have never heard before, especially in this age of the internet. That being said, don’t actually blast your new discoveries at full volume at the game table unless you have express permission from the GM. Remember that no matter how awesome Second-Wave Electro Pixie-Punk is in your head, the GM is still the one trying to set the mood for the scene, which may or may not involve their own music playing in the background. Be mindful and be respectful as always.

Xian Park is part nature preserve, part museum curating a look at the native culture and wildlife of an eastern nation of a world long-since destroyed. Despite it’s artificial nature, however, it has attracted many kami and other spirits associated with that region, in thanks in part to the Park Warden’s love for recreating and remixing the cultural music of that lost land in the park.

Obsessed with the Crystal Resonator, a sort of magical musical instrument similar to a theremin in that notes are played by passing hands through the fields the crystals generate, Pokiso the hanakan keeps many magical recordings on his person. However, like many of his people, Pokiso disdains technology, and considers any accompaniment more advanced than analog instruments to be grating dissonance against the resonator.

Not all music is soothing, and for Temvi, her music fuels her rage. The young ijtikri despises the Veskarium for their mishandling of the occupation of her homeworld and the subsequent accidental total loss of ijtikri culture, and so she plots, ready to unleash terroristic attacks as her way of avenging a culture she can never discover.