Brenneri
Brenneris are a race of hyper-empathic near-humanoid otters from the universe of Starfinder, introduced in the Alien Archive #3. With a heightened ability to perceive and understand the emotional natures of others, brenneris are a race of natural diplomats, and readily find work as ambassadors for hire or otherwise working in the political sphere. They usually operate in teams of two, to better reinforce their perceptions of others and make sure that they have the best possible read on the people they're interacting with. It also helps them to keep stable.
See, brenneris have one little issue with their over-evolved empathic sensibilities. It makes it very easy for them to lose control of their negative emotions, which can cause them to plunge into deep spirals of anxiety or melancholy. To help manage these moods, most brenneris keep a small token to help them calm their emotions and focus their minds on the task at hand. This can range from a simple object, such as a small stone, to more personal items, such as an image of a lover or a childhood relic. A brenneri might even keep multiple items that they favor, choosing a specific object to suit a given situation.
Another side effect of brenneri hyper-empathy is that brenerri are very easily led into making sudden lifestyle switches as a result of meting people who express great joy, excitement or any other positive emotion about a profession, calling or experience. The vast majority of brenneri adventurers were quite literally infected with the urge to become an adventurer after meeting one still hyped up on the exhileration from an exciting quest. At the very least, this means brenneris tend to be early adopters of new technologies and lifestyles.
It does give them a natural "in" with the shirrens, though.
As much as most people like brenneris, they do have their problems. Most notably, they have a bad tendency to be perceived as being nosy, intrusive, "too helpful", or even condescending. This stems from their tendency to do things like compulsively attempt to intervene as councilor or intermediary in cases where the involved parties aren’t interested in outside interference, or insist on trying to assist someone in a rough emotional state even after being declined repeatedly.
PC Stats[edit]
- Ability Adjustments: +2 Con, +2 Cha, –2 Int
- Hit Points: 4
- Size and Type: Brenneris are Medium humanoids with the brenneri subtype.
- Astute: Brenneris gain a +2 racial bonus to Diplomacy and Sense Motive checks.
- Darkvision: Brenneris have darkvision with a range of 60 feet.
- Favored Object: A brenneri can designate any object they own of negligible bulk as a favored object. Once per day, when a brenneri spends a Resolve Point and takes a 10 minute rest to regain Stamina Points, they can focus on a favored object during the rest and recover Hit Points equal to half their level (minimum 1).
- Hold Breath: Brenneris can hold their breath for 10 minutes, and taking actions does not reduce this duration (see Suffocation and Drowning on page 404 of the Starfinder Core Rulebook).
- Swimmer: Brenneris have a swim speed of 20 feet