Creature Feature (Starfinder): Protovi

Protovi CR 4

This small mass of glowing light seems to constantly shift shapes, always nearly but not quite resembling the silhouette of some species or another.

N Small outsider
Init +5; Senses blindsense (life) 100 ft., darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +10

Aura raw life (10 ft., DC 15)


EAC 16; KAC 17
Fort +3; Ref +3; Will +9
Defensive Abilities incorporeal
Weaknesses Decaying


Speed fly 60 ft.
Melee scorch +7 (1d6+4 F)
Ranged energy bolt +9 (1d4+5 F)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Offensive Abilities consume life
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 4th)

At will daze (DC 15), stabilize
3/daylesser confusion (DC 15), wisp ally
1/daydaze monster (DC 15), hold person (DC 15)


Str +0; Dex +5; Con -; Int -2; Wis +5; Cha +1
Skills Acrobatics +10, Life Science +10, Medicine +10, Mysticism +15
Languages none


Consume Life (Sp)

A protvi can bolster its own faltering energies by consuming those of others. A protovi heals for half of all damage it deals to living creatures within ten feet of itself. Additionally, once per day a protovi may consume the life energy and soul of a creature that died within the last round if it is in the same space. Consuming a soul in this manner increases the protvi’s maximum hit points by the sum total of the dead creature’s hit points and stamina points. A creature whose soul is consumed in such a manner cannot be revived unless the protovi is destroyed and the soul freed. It a protovi is destroyed due to its Decaying weakness, all souls it consumed are destroyed with it and cannot be returned without the use of spells like wish to restore the soul to existence.

Decaying (Su)

A protovi is unstable and cannot normally survive for long. Every 48 hours, a protovi’s maximum hit points are reduced by 1d6. When its maximum hit points are reduced below 0, the protovi dissipates and is destroyed.

Raw Life Aura (Su)

A protovi constantly radiates Positive Energy as it gradually decays. Every round, a creature within 10 feet of a protovi is imbued with 1d4 points of Positive Energy, healing living creatures, harming undead creatures, and doing nothing to constructs. If a creature wishes to resist this energy, it can make a DC 15 Fortitude save. A creature’s health cannot be increased above its maximum using this energy.


Environment any inhabited by lifeforms
Organization single

Undeads are a known element to many, the bodies or spirits of the dead that persist after their destruction due to the influence of the Negative Energy Plane. In a way, a protovi is almost the exact opposite of that. A protovi is a mass of positive energy that was formed into an animating force but due to some circumstance was never able to imbue a body and form into a soul.

Protovi appear as a shining mass of light. At their core they are bright enough to be hard to look at, forming a roiling mass similar in appearance to a miniature star. Their outer mass is a mix of warm golden and pure white light. This outer mass constantly shifts and changes form around the core. The general forms they take vary, but always resemble the rough appearance of some sentient species. For a long time, this distinction was not recognized, as any creature that witnesses a protovi has likely not taken stock of every sentient species in the multiverse, and thus will not recognize the vast majority of a protovi’s forms except as vague impressions.

Protovi are simple creatures, to the point that even for outsiders they’re tricky to identify as creatures rather than unthinking natural phenomenon. At their core, protovi are driven by curiosity. They do not understand the existence they find themselves in, the nature of their being, or the nature of life or death, but these ignorances do not cause them confusion or despair. Instead they wander and observe in a bizarre mix of the eagerness of a child and the dispassionate nature of a machine. Protovi do not often choose to interfere with what they observe, but when they do there is no guarantee which side they will choose in any situation. They may act to protect the weak or join with the strong to victimize those who can’t defend themselves, sometimes even switching sides during a conflict.

Biologically, so to speak, a protovi is a pure mass of raw Positive Energy. This is the material used to make mortal souls and to animate soulless living creatures. The exact circumstances that create a protovi are unknown, but it is generally accepted that they arise when a creature dies after the Positive Energy to make up its soul has departed the Positive Energy plane but before it has imbued itself into the physical body. Cut off and adrift, this energy forms into its own being with its own consciousness. However, such an existence is a transient one. Unlike undead creatures, whose Negative Energy can feed off its own entropy, protovi have no innate way to sustain themselves. The energy that makes them bleeds off over time, eventually leading them to dissipate into nothingness. Most protovi pay no mind to this, acting just as they normally would even as they vanish. Others, however, find a solution.

The constant output of Positive Energy as a protovi slowly falls apart imbues itself into the surroundings, healing living creatures. Some protovi recognize this cause and effect and come to the conclusion that living creatures are powered by the same energy as the protovi are made of. Of these, some then discover a way to siphon off this energy as a creature dies, consuming their animating force rather than allowing it to pass on to the afterlife. This consumed energy bolsters a protovi by an amount directly proportional to the strength of the now-dead creature’s life. Some protovi stumble across this accidentally, but however they come to this discovery, the result is usually akin to a supernatural serial killer. Protovi have no understanding of life or death, and as such find no problem with simply consuming the life force of every creature they encounter.

In some situations, protovi find use in industries. Medical centers particularly value them, using them in place of more exhaustive healing spells and feeding them with lab rats to prevent their dissipation, while other groups use them as potent wards against the undead. Their rarity makes such uses infrequent, and the danger that a protovi fed to keep it alive will learn to feed itself keeps most from trying to tame them. A few groups have tried to discover a way to produce them, usually by rapid cloning embryos and then frying them before the soul can take hold in the forming fetus. Thus far these experiments have earned nothing but charges for abuse of life and years of jail time.

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