The SwarmSource Alien Archive pg. 110
Originally an insectile race called the kucharn, the Swarm is now a single-minded collective with a desire to consume all things and absorb their best qualities into itself. The Swarm moves from planet to planet in tremendous organic hive-ships, reducing each so-called “feeder world” to a barren husk incapable of supporting life, and occasionally altering its own DNA in the process to take on qualities from that world’s species. Once it has consumed everything of use on a planet, the Swarm moves on, not bothering to hold territory.
Ironically, one of the most violent races in the galaxy also birthed one of the most peaceful, as a mutation within a sub-hive gave life to the shirrens, who broke away to form a new species. The Swarm is notorious not just because of the invasion that finally ended hostilities between the Pact Worlds and the Veskarium, but also thanks to the warnings of shirrens, who understand the Swarm’s might and its hunger as no other race can.
While individual components of the Swarm have some form of intelligence—or at least a set of complex programmed behaviors that resembles intellect—they cannot generally be reasoned with in any fashion. Swarm components rarely communicate with other creatures, as they see every alien entity as either a food source or a threat. The Swarm’s morale is unbreakable, and while individual components might retreat for tactical reasons, fear is utterly unknown to the Swarm and its components.
The Swarm rarely wields manufactured weapons, instead integrating biotechnology grown or grafted onto component creatures. Because of its constant genetic upgrading and experimentation, the Swarm encompasses components with a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and capabilities, from the mighty dreadlancers to the microscopic, bloodstream-infesting toxicytes. Aliens in "The Swarm" FamilySource Starfinder #21: Huskworld pg. 60Swarm Dredger (Troop) CR 5XP 1,600
CE Small monstrous humanoid (troop)
Init +4; Senses blindsense (vibration) 30 ft., darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +15
DefenseHP 70
EAC 17; KAC 19
Fort +7; Ref +9; Will +6
Defensive Abilities Swarm mind, troop defenses; Immunities acid, fear effects, troop immunities
OffenseSpeed 30 ft., burrow 20 ft.
Melee troop attack (1d4+8 S plus cling [DC 13])
Space 20 ft.; Reach 5 ft.StatisticsSTR +5; DEX +4; CON +3; INT +0; WIS +1; CHA -2
Skills Acrobatics +11, Athletics +11, Stealth +11
Languages Shirren (can’t speak); telepathy 100 ft.EcologyEnvironment any
Organization solitary, pair, or throng (3–6)Special AbilitiesCling (Ex) Each creature that takes damage from a dredger troop’s troop attack must succeed at a DC 13 Reflex save or gain the flat-footed and off-target conditions until the end of the troop’s next turn as dredgers cling to the target’s body, throwing off their aim and balance.
Swarm Mind (Ex) Members of the Swarm are bound together into a singular hive mind by a blend of exuded pheromones, imperceptible movements of antennae and limbs, electrostatic fields, and telepathic communication. All Swarm creatures within 30 feet of each other are in constant communication; if one is aware of a threat, all are. (Such awareness can spread along a “chain” of Swarm creatures under appropriate circumstances, potentially alerting distant Swarm creatures). In addition, once per round when within 30 feet of another Swarm creature, a Swarm creature can roll twice and take the better result on a saving throw against a mind-affecting effect.DescriptionThanks to their hive-mind intelligence, Swarm components organize easily into troop formations, becoming all the deadlier. The above stat block represents a group of dredgers, which are used by the Swarm en masse for digging trenches and burrowing behind enemy lines to cause remarkable amounts of chaos.
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