History Characters / StarfinderVermin

For tropes pertaining to vermin in ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', see [[Characters/PathfinderAnimals here]].

[[folder:Apari]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 7

->'''Size:''' Large

* HiveCasteSystem: An apari is a gigantic beetle-like creature both home and queen to a swarm of tiny insects, each of which has an extremely specialised role.
* HiveMind: A young apari hive and its 'mother' remain chemically linked, so that if disaster befalls one of them, surviving constituents can potentially join a linked hive and continue to thrive.
* InsectQueen: The apari queen is the only fertile member of the hive and is responsible for spawning constituents and daughter hives alike.
* MultipleChoicePast: Aparis have been present on most Pact Worlds prior to the Gap, and there's plenty of in-univese speculation how they could have achieved spaceflight during that time.

[[folder:Asteroid Louse]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/2

->'''Size:''' Small

Asteroid lice are communal creatures that feed on minerals in the stone of their airless habitats.

* EatDirtCheap: Asteroid lice feed on minerals.

[[folder:Astro-Krill]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 13 (swarm)

->'''Size:''' Fine

* BioluminescenceIsCool: An astro-krill's exoskeleton is translucent and emits brilliant and complex light patterns. Children love how their tongues are vibrantly dyed after eating astro-krill paste.
* EatDirtCheap: Astro-krill's diet consists entirely of inorganic material. They consume asteroids and the space suits of explorers with equal relish.

[[folder:Atlapak]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 9 (adult), 3 (juvenile)

->'''Size:''' Large (adult), Medium (juvenile)

* FlyingSeafoodSpecial: An atlapak can inflate its lightweight body and flap its gills to swim through the air.
* GiantEnemyCrab: These crustaceans can grow as much as 10 feet long.

[[folder:Barro]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/3

->'''Size:''' Diminutive

* CreepyCockroach: Barros heavily resemble large cockroaches, and like cockroaches, are scavenging omnivores and can be found anywhere, especially dirty urban environments due to the abundance of food to scavenge and dark places to lay their eggs. They can be hard to spot and harder to exterminate due to their tough exoskeletons and their preference to hide from larger creatures.

[[folder:Comet Wasp]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 12

->'''Size:''' Diminutive (swarm)

* BewareMyStingerTail: The comet wasp's sting delivers a chilling toxin.
* ChestBurster: Comet wasps lay their eggs in living creatures. After five days, a new comet wasp swarm cuts itself free, killing the host.

[[folder:Crate Fiend]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 3

->'''Size:''' Medium

Ambush predators from Taekah III that use cast off shells or empty containers to hide in.

* AcidAttack: They have a ranged acid attack.
* ChameleonCamouflage: Like real-life hermit crabs, they use any appropriately sized container to hide in and carry it around with them as additional protection. Also like hermit crabs they've adapted to use man-made items as well as the natural ones they originally evolved to take advantage of, using cargo crates and barrels as shells.
* InSeriesNickname: Technically they're called taekahbs, but they're almost universally referred to crate fiends.
* MorePredatorsThanPrey: Averted, they're scavengers by nature and prefer to avid discovery rather than fight, though larger ones will go after live prey.
* TakingYouWithMe: When killed they get to make one last acid blast attack for free against any target in range.

[[folder:Dawn Beetle]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 2 (sun-scrapper), 10 (core-diver)

->'''Size:''' Large

* AbsurdlySharpClaws: The dawn beetle's spiky claws can tear through stone.
* HorseOfADifferentColor: Dawn beetles are rather easy to domesticate. With a proper saddle to dissipate the heat, one can direct a dawn beetle like a living tractor.

[[folder:Diatha]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/diatha.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A common diatha]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/2 (normal), 5 (elder)

->'''Size:''' Small

Diathas are a common species of what are known as explosive slugs. Found throughout the galaxy, including on Vesk-2, diathas store energy in chemical chains, rather than in fat deposits, making them highly volatile.

* ExtremeOmnivore: Diathas eat anything that won't kill them.
* IntroducedSpeciesCalamity: Diathas can dominate ecosystems, displacing or killing native species. The Pact Worlds and Veskarium have strict quarantine measures for vessels arriving from systems known to have diatha infestations.
* MadeOfExplodium: Diatha flesh is explosive. Although it is stable under in most circumstances, when a diatha is badly wounded, hormones released as a stress response cause it to explode when further wounded.
* NotQuiteFlight: Diatha elders become buoyant with stored internal gases, and can extend winglike flaps, allowing them to hover.
* SuicideAttack: Diathas can detonate their energy-packed flesh while in an injured and excited state.

[[folder:Flayer Leech]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/flayer_leech.png]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 4

->'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral (juvenile), NeutralEvil (effigy)
->'''Size:''' Tiny

A flayer leech is a tiny invertebrate that flenses its prey and uses their hide as a chrysalis to become an doppelganger of them.

* GlamourFailure: A flayer leech effigy can impersonate the creature whose skin it is wearing to a striking degree, though close friends might recognise a changed demeanor, as the effigy speaks rarely and engages in few social functions. In addition, an effigy's auditory organs are sensitive to sounds that wouldn't normally harm humanoids of the same type, which can sometimes give away the effigy's true nature.
* HumanDisguise: When a flayer leech kills a humanoid or monstrous humanoid, it can wear the skin of its victim like clothes after a process of metamorphosis, then attempts to reinsert itself into the dead creature's life.

[[folder:Khefak]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/3 (normal), 3 (thasteron)

->'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral
->'''Size:''' Small (normal), Medium (thasteron)

Before Drift travel, Khefak Biogenetics engineered a species to consume rubble, scrap, and dust and then biochemically refine what would be waste material back into usable fuel for thasteron engines. With the advent of Drift travel the thasteron market crashed and the khefaks were abandoned. They were expected to die off on their own, but instead they spread and propagated into a common pest species on Akiton.

* BigEater: A khefak must eat many times its weight each day, so a khefak incursion can cause rapid structural damage.
* MetalMuncher: Khefaks were bioengineered to consume thasteron rubble, scrap and dust.
* MixAndMatchCritters: Khefaks are similar to a cross between a centipede and crab, with a hard exoskeleton, 20 segmented legs and frontfacing pincers.

[[folder:Klikharp]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/2 (hatchling), 5 (mount)

->'''Size:''' Medium (hatchling), Large (mount)

* HorseOfADifferentColor: Their mutable genetic code allows klikharps to be engineered as mounts.
* RogueDrone: Klikharps were once components of the Swarm, before they broke away from the hive mind alongside the shirrens.

[[folder:Miasma Fly]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 2 (miasma fly), 5 (cryllapede)

->'''Size:''' Small (miasma fly), Large (cryllapede)

* BewareMyStingerTail: Wicked stingers protrude from both ends of the miasma fly's body. Miasma fly stings are extremely painful, comparable to a gunshot wound.
* FusionDance: When temperatures dip significantly, miasma flies congregate in great swarms. After devouring enough nutrients to power metamorphosis, they shed their wings, find shelter within crystal formations, and form a chrysalis that eventually hatches into a cryllapede.
* MetalMuncher: Miasma flies feed on clouds of gaseous mercury.
* TheParalyzer: Miasma fly venom causes severe muscle stiffness and paralysis.

[[folder:Mole-beetle]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/3
->'''Role:''' Small

->'''Size:''' Diminutive

* LargeAndInCharge: Mole-beetles that have been brood leaders for a long time grow remarkably large and strong. Known as behemoths, they can be as big as a shuttlecraft.

[[folder:Necropede]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 3
->'''Role:''' Combatant

->'''Size:''' Large

* FoodChainOfEvil: Necropedes' bite can digest undead flesh.

[[folder:Odheo]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 1

->'''Size:''' Tiny

Obnoxious pests that spread with incredible speed.

* ActionBomb: When killed they explode into a shower of gore and slime as one last "fuck you". Said explosion doesn't do damage but does inflict penalties to saves against diseases.
* ExplosiveBreeder: Their rapid breeding cycle makes it incredibly difficult to root out an infestation once they've set in.
* MultipurposeTongue: Their spiked tongues are used to latch onto larger creatures and suck their blood.

[[folder:Planetoid Beetle]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 9

->'''Size:''' Huge

* AcidAttack: The planetoid beetle can spit acid as a ranged attack.
* EatDirtCheap: Planetoid beetles feed on the mineral within rocks.

[[folder:Synapse Worm]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/synapse_worm_starfinder.PNG]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 2

->'''Size:''' Small

Opportunist ambush predators that put prey into a state of synaptic shock to feed on at its leisure.

* AcidAttack: They can douse their enemies in acid as a ranged attack.
* BreathWeapon: They spray a rapidly expanding slime that deals acid damage and dazes whatever touches it.
* ChameleonCamouflage: They're typically the same color as the environment around them, which gives them a bonus to Stealth checks but isn't enough to count as its own ability.
* SandWorm: A very small example and one that really looks like it would be better suited for an aquatic lifestyle, but they burrow into the ground to ambush prey and live in any warm environment.

[[folder:Utesra]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 5 (larva), 11 (phylarch)

->'''Size:''' Medium (larva), Large (phylarch)

* ChestBurster: Utesras are obligate parasitoids and must reproduce by incubating their eggs in others' flesh. When the host dies, larval utesras hatch and devour the corpse.
* ShockAndAwe: An utesra can lash with its electrically charged dorsal stalk.

[[folder:Warpmoth]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 6

->'''Size:''' Fine (swarm)

* BioluminescenceIsCool: A warpmoth swarm creates an oscillating, disorienting light.

!Starship-Sized
[[folder:Stellar Protozoa]]
->'''Starship Tier:''' 7

->'''Size:''' Huge

Stellar protozoans are single-celled organisms larger than some space stations. Mindless and voracious, these creatures move through space draining energy and consuming matter.

* ExtremeOmnivore: Anything smaller than it is can be a stellar protozoa's source of food.
* MegaMicrobes: These single-celled organisms are large enough to participate in starship combat.

[[folder:Atlapak]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 9 (adult), 3 (juvenile)

->'''Size:''' Large (adult), Medium (juvenile)

* FlyingSeafoodSpecial: An atlapak can inflate its lightweight body and flap its gills to swim through the air.
* GiantEnemyCrab: These crustaceans can grow as much as 10 feet long.

[[folder:Barro]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/3

->'''Size:''' Diminutive

* CreepyCockroach: Barros heavily resemble large cockroaches, and like cockroaches, are scavenging omnivores and can be found anywhere, especially dirty urban environments due to the abundance of food to scavenge and dark places to lay their eggs. They can be hard to spot and harder to exterminate due to their tough exoskeletons and their preference to hide from larger creatures.

[[folder:Comet Wasp]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 12

->'''Size:''' Diminutive (swarm)

* BewareMyStingerTail: The comet wasp's sting delivers a chilling toxin.
* ChestBurster: Comet wasps lay their eggs in living creatures. After five days, a new comet wasp swarm cuts itself free, killing the host.

[[folder:Crate Fiend]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 3

->'''Size:''' Medium

Ambush predators from Taekah III that use cast off shells or empty containers to hide in.

* AcidAttack: They have a ranged acid attack.
* ChameleonCamouflage: Like real-life hermit crabs, they use any appropriately sized container to hide in and carry it around with them as additional protection. Also like hermit crabs they've adapted to use man-made items as well as the natural ones they originally evolved to take advantage of, using cargo crates and barrels as shells.
* InSeriesNickname: Technically they're called taekahbs, but they're almost universally referred to crate fiends.
* MorePredatorsThanPrey: Averted, they're scavengers by nature and prefer to avid discovery rather than fight, though larger ones will go after live prey.
* TakingYouWithMe: When killed they get to make one last acid blast attack for free against any target in range.

[[folder:Dawn Beetle]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 2 (sun-scrapper), 10 (core-diver)

->'''Size:''' Large

* AbsurdlySharpClaws: The dawn beetle's spiky claws can tear through stone.
* HorseOfADifferentColor: Dawn beetles are rather easy to domesticate. With a proper saddle to dissipate the heat, one can direct a dawn beetle like a living tractor.

[[folder:Diatha]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/diatha.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A common diatha]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/2 (normal), 5 (elder)

->'''Size:''' Small

Diathas are a common species of what are known as explosive slugs. Found throughout the galaxy, including on Vesk-2, diathas store energy in chemical chains, rather than in fat deposits, making them highly volatile.

* ExtremeOmnivore: Diathas eat anything that won't kill them.
* IntroducedSpeciesCalamity: Diathas can dominate ecosystems, displacing or killing native species. The Pact Worlds and Veskarium have strict quarantine measures for vessels arriving from systems known to have diatha infestations.
* MadeOfExplodium: Diatha flesh is explosive. Although it is stable under in most circumstances, when a diatha is badly wounded, hormones released as a stress response cause it to explode when further wounded.
* NotQuiteFlight: Diatha elders become buoyant with stored internal gases, and can extend winglike flaps, allowing them to hover.
* SuicideAttack: Diathas can detonate their energy-packed flesh while in an injured and excited state.

[[folder:Flayer Leech]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/flayer_leech.png]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 4

->'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral (juvenile), NeutralEvil (effigy)
->'''Size:''' Tiny

A flayer leech is a tiny invertebrate that flenses its prey and uses their hide as a chrysalis to become an doppelganger of them.

* GlamourFailure: A flayer leech effigy can impersonate the creature whose skin it is wearing to a striking degree, though close friends might recognise a changed demeanor, as the effigy speaks rarely and engages in few social functions. In addition, an effigy's auditory organs are sensitive to sounds that wouldn't normally harm humanoids of the same type, which can sometimes give away the effigy's true nature.
* HumanDisguise: When a flayer leech kills a humanoid or monstrous humanoid, it can wear the skin of its victim like clothes after a process of metamorphosis, then attempts to reinsert itself into the dead creature's life.

[[folder:Khefak]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/3 (normal), 3 (thasteron)

->'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral
->'''Size:''' Small (normal), Medium (thasteron)

Before Drift travel, Khefak Biogenetics engineered a species to consume rubble, scrap, and dust and then biochemically refine what would be waste material back into usable fuel for thasteron engines. With the advent of Drift travel the thasteron market crashed and the khefaks were abandoned. They were expected to die off on their own, but instead they spread and propagated into a common pest species on Akiton.

* BigEater: A khefak must eat many times its weight each day, so a khefak incursion can cause rapid structural damage.
* MetalMuncher: Khefaks were bioengineered to consume thasteron rubble, scrap and dust.
* MixAndMatchCritters: Khefaks are similar to a cross between a centipede and crab, with a hard exoskeleton, 20 segmented legs and frontfacing pincers.

[[folder:Klikharp]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/2 (hatchling), 5 (mount)

->'''Size:''' Medium (hatchling), Large (mount)

* HorseOfADifferentColor: Their mutable genetic code allows klikharps to be engineered as mounts.
* RogueDrone: Klikharps were once components of the Swarm, before they broke away from the hive mind alongside the shirrens.

[[folder:Miasma Fly]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 2 (miasma fly), 5 (cryllapede)

->'''Size:''' Small (miasma fly), Large (cryllapede)

* BewareMyStingerTail: Wicked stingers protrude from both ends of the miasma fly's body. Miasma fly stings
are extremely painful, comparable to a gunshot wound.
* FusionDance: When temperatures dip significantly, miasma flies congregate in great swarms. After devouring enough nutrients to power metamorphosis, they shed their wings, find shelter within crystal formations, and form a chrysalis that eventually hatches into a cryllapede.
* MetalMuncher: Miasma flies feed on clouds of gaseous mercury.
* TheParalyzer: Miasma fly venom causes severe muscle stiffness and paralysis.

[[folder:Mole-beetle]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/3
->'''Role:''' Small

->'''Size:''' Diminutive

* LargeAndInCharge: Mole-beetles that have been brood leaders for a long time grow remarkably large and strong. Known as behemoths, they can be as big as a shuttlecraft.

[[folder:Necropede]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 3
->'''Role:''' Combatant

->'''Size:''' Large

* FoodChainOfEvil: Necropedes' bite can digest undead flesh.

[[folder:Odheo]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 1

->'''Size:''' Tiny

Obnoxious pests that spread with incredible speed.

* ActionBomb: When killed they explode into a shower of gore and slime as one last "fuck you". Said explosion doesn't do damage but does inflict penalties to saves against diseases.
* ExplosiveBreeder: Their rapid breeding cycle makes it incredibly difficult to root out an infestation once they've set in.
* MultipurposeTongue: Their spiked tongues are used to latch onto larger creatures and suck their blood.

[[folder:Planetoid Beetle]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 9

->'''Size:''' Huge

* AcidAttack: The planetoid beetle can spit acid as a ranged attack.
* EatDirtCheap: Planetoid beetles feed on the mineral within rocks.

[[folder:Synapse Worm]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/synapse_worm_starfinder.PNG]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 2

->'''Size:''' Small

Opportunist ambush predators that put prey into a state of synaptic shock to feed on at its leisure.

* AcidAttack: They can douse their enemies in acid as a ranged attack.
* BreathWeapon: They spray a rapidly expanding slime that deals acid damage and dazes whatever touches it.
* ChameleonCamouflage: They're typically the same color as the environment around them, which gives them a bonus to Stealth checks but isn't enough to count as its own ability.
* SandWorm: A very small example and one that really looks like it would be better suited for an aquatic lifestyle, but they burrow into the ground to ambush prey and live in any warm environment.

[[folder:Utesra]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 5 (larva), 11 (phylarch)

->'''Size:''' Medium (larva), Large (phylarch)

* ChestBurster: Utesras are obligate parasitoids and must reproduce by incubating their eggs in others' flesh. When the host dies, larval utesras hatch and devour the corpse.
* ShockAndAwe: An utesra can lash with its electrically charged dorsal stalk.

[[folder:Warpmoth]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 6

->'''Size:''' Fine (swarm)

* BioluminescenceIsCool: A warpmoth swarm creates an oscillating, disorienting light.

!Starship-Sized
[[folder:Stellar Protozoa]]
->'''Starship Tier:''' 7

->'''Size:''' Huge

Stellar protozoans are single-celled organisms larger than some space stations. Mindless and voracious, these creatures move through space draining energy and consuming matter.

* ExtremeOmnivore: Anything smaller than it is can be a stellar protozoa's source of food.
* MegaMicrobes: These single-celled organisms are large enough to participate in starship combat.

!Player-Level

[[folder:Mole-beetle]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/3
->'''Role:''' Small

->'''Size:''' Diminutive

* LargeAndInCharge: Mole-beetles that have been brood leaders for a long time grow remarkably large and strong. Known as behemoths, they can be as big as a shuttlecraft.

[[folder:Necropede]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 3
->'''Role:''' Combatant

->'''Size:''' Large

* FoodChainOfEvil: Necropedes' bite can digest undead flesh.

[[folder:Odheo]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 1

->'''Size:''' Tiny

Obnoxious pests that spread with incredible speed.

* ActionBomb: When killed they explode into a shower of gore and slime as one last "fuck you". Said explosion doesn't do damage but does inflict penalties to saves against diseases.
* ExplosiveBreeder: Their rapid breeding cycle makes it incredibly difficult to root out an infestation once they've set in.
* MultipurposeTongue: Their spiked tongues are used to latch onto larger creatures and suck their blood.

[[folder:Planetoid Beetle]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 9

->'''Size:''' Huge

* AcidAttack: The planetoid beetle can spit acid as a ranged attack.
* EatDirtCheap: Planetoid beetles feed on the mineral within rocks.

[[folder:Synapse Worm]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/synapse_worm_starfinder.PNG]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 2

->'''Size:''' Small

Opportunist ambush predators that put prey into a state of synaptic shock to feed on at its leisure.

* AcidAttack: They can douse their enemies in acid as a ranged attack.
* BreathWeapon: They spray a rapidly expanding slime that deals acid damage and dazes whatever touches it.
* ChameleonCamouflage: They're typically the same color as the environment around them, which gives them a bonus to Stealth checks but isn't enough to count as its own ability.
* SandWorm: A very small example and one that really looks like it would be better suited for an aquatic lifestyle, but they burrow into the ground to ambush prey and live in any warm environment.

[[folder:Utesra]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 5 (larva), 11 (phylarch)

->'''Size:''' Medium (larva), Large (phylarch)

* ChestBurster: Utesras are obligate parasitoids and must reproduce by incubating their eggs in others' flesh. When the host dies, larval utesras hatch and devour the corpse.
* ShockAndAwe: An utesra can lash with its electrically charged dorsal stalk.

[[folder:Warpmoth]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 6

->'''Size:''' Fine (swarm)

* BioluminescenceIsCool: A warpmoth swarm creates an oscillating, disorienting light.

!Starship-Level
[[folder:Stellar Protozoa]]
->'''Starship Tier:''' 7

->'''Size:''' Huge

Stellar protozoans are single-celled organisms larger than some space stations. Mindless and voracious, these creatures move through space draining energy and consuming matter.

* ExtremeOmnivore: Anything smaller than it is can be a stellar protozoa's source of food.
* MegaMicrobes: These single-celled organisms are large enough to participate in starship combat.