Hanakan
Hanakans are a playable race of sapient, spellcasting raptors from the universe of Starfinder, introduced in the Alien Archive #3.
Hanakans resemble Dromaeosaurs, with long, lean bodies standing on two legs, thin arms lined with feathers, a flexible neck, and a long, whiplike tail ending in a fan of feathers. Each grows a unique crest of feathers from their head that, combined with their tail fan, enables them to express the broad range of hanakan emotions and forms the basis of their somatic language. Hanakans are omnivorous, using magic to grow a variety of crops and rear cattle-sized, herbivorous spiders called vanshas. The average hanakan stands 2-1/12 feet tall at the shoulder, measures 4 feet long from nose to tail, and weighs around 25 pounds. Hailing from a world of weather extremes and cataclysmic volcanism, hanakans have evolved a symbiotic relationship with a bacteria in their lungs. This symbiosis allows hanakans to quickly adapt to changing climates and toxic gases and has helped them expand their civilization across the six planets of their home system well before Pact Worlds explorers made first contact.
Unified by the teachings of the great philosopher Ssena’ssess, hanakans are a largely peaceful species that settles disputes through debate, proxy champions, and subterfuge rather than open war. Hanakan religion teaches that they have two souls: a “child soul” that every person is born with, and a ssenavar, or “high soul,” that they create. To come of age, a child must forge or attune themself to a soulstone: a mystic jewel that houses their ssenavar and chronicles their life experience. Soulstones are cherished objects, and hanakans wear or carry them at all times. Soulstones can be passed down for generations, housing the magic of a dozen individuals and functioning as powerful hybrid items or solarian weapon crystals. A hanakan without a soulstone is viewed as a child at best—without autonomy or authority—rendering those who lose their ssenavar socially inert and grief-stricken. Consequently, one of the most respected callings in hanakan culture is that of the soulstone hunter. These daring adventurers work on behalf of distraught clients to recover lost or stolen soulstones.
Perhaps the weirdest thing about hanakans is that, like all creatures native to the Ash'Akan system, they have a powerful instinctive affinity for magic. Whereas most other races in the Starfinder universe developed at least some level of technology, hanakans grew into a starfaring race entirely through the study and mastery of magic. Even space travel is traditionally achieved through enchanted vessels, powerful teleportation spells, and portal networks. In fact, they regard non-magical technology as, frankly, obscene; at the very least, if it runs on electricity, then hanakans hate it - precisely why, nobody is quite sure, as there's no explicit religious or philosophical dogma calling upon hanakans to abhor magic. This, understandably, keeps them reclusive in a universe largely dominated by technological races; when you view technomancers in much the same light as the traditional Dungeons & Dragonss setting views necromancers, and mechanics as something even worse, you're in no great hurry to go amongst people who casually use tech. Even the uncommon hanakan weirdos who leave Ash'Akan because they like technology still tend to prefer so-called hybrid tech over pure technology.
PC Stats[edit | edit source]
- Ability Adjustment: +2 Con, +2 Cha, –2 Int
- Hit Points: 2
- Size and Type: Hanakans are Small magical beasts.
- Atmospheric Adaptation: Hanakans are Immune to Inhaled type Poisons and are automatically considered to be Acclimated to Thick Atmospheres and Thin Atmospheres.
- Hanakan Magic: Hanakans gain the following spell-like abilities. The caster level for these effects is equal to the hanakan’s character level.
- 1/day—wisp ally
- At will—detect magic, token spell
- Hanakan Senses: Hanakans have darkvision with a range of 60 feet and low-light vision.
- Scramble: A hanakan has a land speed of 40 feet and a climb speed of 20 feet.
- Studied: Hanakans gain a +2 racial bonus to Medicine and Mysticism checks