[The Starfinder monsters I’m most interested in are the ones with weird xenobiology: some of the writers got really into designing alien ecologies and weird behaviors. Like the crest-eater, which wants your delicious calcium to make solar panels. One thing in Starfinder that I don’t mention below, because it works better with the advanced tech levels of that game, is that kasatha technology is built around solar collectors that are biomimetics based on crest-eater anatomy. That’s super cool.]
Crest-Eater CR 4 N Magical Beast This creature is a horned, reptilian beast the size of a bison. It has three sets of legs—the middle pair is held aloft and tipped with sharp claws. It has long, elaborate horns growing from its head and spine—sails of tissue grow between the horns and hold them fast to the skin. It has two pairs of beady black eyes, and a mouth full of large, crushing teeth.
Native to the harsh deserts of Kasath, crest-eaters are powerful creatures that inspire both reverence and fear in the kasatha that live there. A crest-eater is so named because, when they prey on a kasatha, typically tear open the head, devour the bony crest, and leave the rest of the body behind for scavengers. A crest-eater’s primary goal is calcium, which they incorporate into their elaborate horns and shells. These in turn act as solar panels, giving the crest-eater their main source of energy. These horns wax and wane in size as the crest-eater forages, shrinking in lean times and growing to extravagance when it is well fed.
Crest-eaters have a social organization similar to elephants, with females and juveniles living in herds organized around the oldest female, and males living solitary lives for much of the year. Members of a herd are devoted to each other, sleeping in shifts and fighting together to oppose hunters or avenge their fallen relatives. They are tolerant of smaller predators, which clean up their kills and often have sharper eyes and ears than the crest-eaters do. Solitary males are the individuals most likely to attack a village or other settlement, and they have an outsized place in kasatha folklore.
Some crest-eaters have been exported to other planets, where they are often surprisingly docile compared to their violent behavior on Kasath. If a planet has an oceanic past, large deposits of chalk and limestone serve as food just as readily as bones, and are more convenient to harvest. A crest-eater is of nearly human intelligence, and training them has more in common with teaching a child than handling an animal. They make good, loyal bodyguards if fed well, and are especially valued by those that fear necromancers and their skeletal armies. Kasathas are known to make wickedly sharp bone cestuses using the horns of a crest-eater, and these weapons are often treated as heirlooms and badges of honor.
[The Starfinder monsters I’m most interested in are the ones with weird xenobiology: some of the writers got really into designing alien ecologies and weird behaviors. Like the crest-eater, which wants your delicious calcium to make solar panels. One thing in Starfinder that I don’t mention below, because it works better with the advanced tech levels of that game, is that kasatha technology is built around solar collectors that are biomimetics based on crest-eater anatomy. That’s super cool.]
Crest-Eater CR 4 N Magical Beast This creature is a horned, reptilian beast the size of a bison. It has three sets of legs—the middle pair is held aloft and tipped with sharp claws. It has long, elaborate horns growing from its head and spine—sails of tissue grow between the horns and hold them fast to the skin. It has two pairs of beady black eyes, and a mouth full of large, crushing teeth.
Native to the harsh deserts of Kasath, crest-eaters are powerful creatures that inspire both reverence and fear in the kasatha that live there. A crest-eater is so named because, when they prey on a kasatha, typically tear open the head, devour the bony crest, and leave the rest of the body behind for scavengers. A crest-eater’s primary goal is calcium, which they incorporate into their elaborate horns and shells. These in turn act as solar panels, giving the crest-eater their main source of energy. These horns wax and wane in size as the crest-eater forages, shrinking in lean times and growing to extravagance when it is well fed.
Crest-eaters have a social organization similar to elephants, with females and juveniles living in herds organized around the oldest female, and males living solitary lives for much of the year. Members of a herd are devoted to each other, sleeping in shifts and fighting together to oppose hunters or avenge their fallen relatives. They are tolerant of smaller predators, which clean up their kills and often have sharper eyes and ears than the crest-eaters do. Solitary males are the individuals most likely to attack a village or other settlement, and they have an outsized place in kasatha folklore.
Some crest-eaters have been exported to other planets, where they are often surprisingly docile compared to their violent behavior on Kasath. If a planet has an oceanic past, large deposits of chalk and limestone serve as food just as readily as bones, and are more convenient to harvest. A crest-eater is of nearly human intelligence, and training them has more in common with teaching a child than handling an animal. They make good, loyal bodyguards if fed well, and are especially valued by those that fear necromancers and their skeletal armies. Kasathas are known to make wickedly sharp bone cestuses using the horns of a crest-eater, and these weapons are often treated as heirlooms and badges of honor.
Crest-Eater CR 4 XP 1,200 N Large magical beast Init+1;Sensesbone scent,darkvision 60 ft., Perception +5, scent Defense AC17, touch 10, flat-footed 15 (-1 size, +1 Dex, +7 natural) hp38 (4d10+16) Fort+7,Ref+5,Will+4 Defensive Abilities fortification (50%) Offense Speed60 ft. Meleebite +6 (1d8+3 plus dissolve bone), 2 claws +6 (1d8+3) Rangedspit +4 touch (dissolve bone) Space10 ft.; Reach10 ft. Statistics Str17,Dex12,Con17,Int6,Wis13,Cha8 Base Atk +4;CMB+8;CMD19 (23 vs. trip) FeatsIron Will,Toughness SkillsClimb +11, Perception +5, Stealth +5, Survival +6; Racial Modifiers +4 Climb, +4 Stealth, +4 Survival LanguagesKasatha (cannot speak) Ecology Environmentwarm deserts and hills Organizationsolitary, pair or herd (3-8) Treasureincidental Special Abilities Bone Scent (Ex) A crest-eater can detect exposed bone or other calcium by scent at a range of 1 mile, and can pinpoint such creatures within 180 feet. This includes creatures that have taken Constitution damage from its dissolve bone ability within the last 24 hours. Dissolve Bone (Su) A creature bitten by a crest-eater, or struck by its spit, must succeed a DC 15 Fortitude save or take 1d4 points of Constitution damage. A skeletal undead, or a construct or object made primarily out of bone, limestone, chalk or other calcium-rich minerals takes 3d6+4 points of damage if it fails the save. The save DC is Constitution based. Spit (Ex) A crest-eater can spit its bone dissolving saliva as a standard action. Treat this as a ranged touch attack, with a range of 30 feet and no range increment. A creature struck is exposed to the crest-eater’s dissolve bone ability.
