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Template Grafts | Universal Monster Rules


Calaphidion

Source Starfinder #35: Merchants of the Void pg. 57

Calaphidion Tier 1

N Small starship animal
Speed 10; Maneuverability perfect (turn 0); Drift
AC 16; TL 16
HP 35; DT —; CT 7
Shields basic 30 (forward 8, port 7, starboard 7, aft 8)
Attack (Forward) gore (2d8; 1 hex)
Attack (Turret) expel chaff (3d4; 5 hexes)
Power Core calaphidion heart (90 PCU); Drift Engine none; Systems basic computer, basic medium-range sensors, mk 4 armor, mk 4 defenses; Expansion Bays none
Other Abilities herd attack, living starship, void adaptation

Crew

Captain (1 action) gunnery +5 (1st level)
Pilot (1 action) Piloting +9 (1 rank)
Science Officer (1 action) Computers +7 (1 rank)

Ecology

Environment any vacuum
Organization solitary, herd (2–20), or infestation (21–60)

Special Abilities

Expel Chaff (Ex) A calaphidion can expel chaff from its carapace in an attack that flies up to 5 hexes. This weapon has the point (+10) special property.
Gore (Ex) A calaphidion has a pair of hard, chitinous horns extending from the sides of its head, and it can use them in combat. It can make a horn attack only against a target that’s in an adjacent hex. This attack has the broad arc special property.
Herd Attack (Ex) Calaphidions are herd animals with strong instincts for group survival. A calaphidion gains a +1 circumstance bonus to gunnery checks whenever at least one other calaphidion is within 2 hexes.
Living Starship (Ex) A calaphidion is a living creature so immense that it functions as a starship (and thus engages only in starship combat). It has no crew, but it can still take gunner, pilot, and science officer actions using the skill bonuses, ranks, and level listed above. Modifiers for its size, speed, and maneuverability have already been factored into its statistics. Use the table below when the calaphidion takes critical damage. A calaphidion’s heart can’t gain the wrecked condition.
D%SystemEffect
1–30Circulatory systemCondition applies to all gunner actions
31–60Nervous systemCondition applies to all pilot actions
61–90SensesCondition applies to all science officer actions
91–100HeartCondition applies to all actions

Description

Calaphidions thrive in the mostly empty space between planets. Photosynthetic cells cover the bulbous bodies of these livestock creatures, collecting solar energy even from far-distant suns that then combines with their diet of dust and ice to sustain them indefinitely. They reproduce quickly, and despite their otherwise insectile anatomy, they give birth to live young, which can lead to widespread infestations in areas with particularly favorable conditions.
Calaphidions typically spend the majority of their lives grazing on comets, icy asteroids, and planetary rings, most often ignoring and being ignored by other spacefaring creatures and vessels. The only creatures with any interest in calaphidions typically intend to eat them—either interstellar predators or those raising the creatures for the purpose of consuming them.
Though calaphidions have no more intelligence than any other animals, they have strong herd instincts. Unless carefully placated, they attack any non-calaphidion creature or vessel that acts aggressively toward them. They fight as a group, working to surround and tear apart their prey. Calaphidion farmers welcome and cultivate this aggressively defensive behavior, as it helps to protect their herds.