Paizo Announces Starfinder 2nd Edition

As part of the keynote presentation for Gen Con 2023, Paizo announced Starfinder 2nd Edition.

A new edition is coming for Starfinder, making it fully compatible with Pathfinder 2nd Edition and the Remaster Project. The new edition will be published under the ORC License and implements the three-action economy.

“With the finalization of the ORC License, and considering that Starfinder 1st Edition has been evolving since its release in 2017, we felt now was a perfect time to bring the system into the future,” says Starfinder’s Managing Creative Director, Thurston Hillman.

Taking the lessons of Pathfinder’s latest edition and everything they have learned since Starfinder began, Paizo is looking forward to making the next version of Starfinder better. This will be the most open playtest Paizo has ever launched, with deeper looks into the development process.

The roundtable discussion with the Starfinder team highlighted some key elements of the upcoming playtest and new edition:

• Pathfinder 2nd Edition and Starfinder 2nd Edition rulesets will be completely cross-compatible provided your GM allows it. That includes classes, creatures, and more.
• The first four classes announced for the playtest are:
• Mystic, represented by the iconic shirren mystic Chk Chk
• Soldier, represented by the returning iconic vesk soldier Obozaya.
• Envoy, represented by the returning iconic human envoy Navasi
• Solarion, represented by a new iconic pahtra solarian, openining up the feline pahtra as a core ancestry.
• As part of the ‘open playtest’ model, the Starfinder team will be keeping players updated and involved with “Field Tests”- the first of which release today alongside the announcement at stafinderplaytest.com. The first Field Test includes the Soldier Class from levels 1 to 5, new equipment, and new creatures like the Computer Glitch Gremlin and Laser Wolf.

The Starfinder Playtest Rulebook will be available in summer 2024 as a softcover rulebook. Base system rules will not be a part of the playtest as Starfinder 2nd Edition will be using the Pathfinder 2nd Edition ruleset. The playtest will focus on the core elements of gameplay, including new classes, a scaling equipment system, new skills, and more.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I'm sold. I was entertained conceptually about Starfinder, but the sort of one-leg-in approach they took wasn't something I wanted to engage with.

 

[Reynard]

I'm sold. I was entertained conceptually about Starfinder, but the sort of one-leg-in approach they took wasn't something I wanted to engage with.

What do you mean by "one leg in"?

 

[Thomas Shey]

What do you mean by "one leg in"?

Starfinder, from my reading was halfway between PF1e and PF2e. It had moved away from some PF1e things I did not appreciate (because, honestly, they were carry-overs from D&D3e) but kept some others, and did things like the very strange mandatory level requirement for equipment.

 

[Reynard]

Starfinder, from my reading was halfway between PF1e and PF2e. It had moved away from some PF1e things I did not appreciate (because, honestly, they were carry-overs from D&D3e) but kept some others, and did things like the very strange mandatory level requirement for equipment.

I liked most of the evolutions of PF via SF and was actually a little disappointed that PF2 was so divergent.

 

[payn]

Im one of those that likes to keep their fantasy and sci-fi separated, but ill be interested in the playtest at least.

 

[Reynard]

Im one of those that likes to keep their fantasy and sci-fi separated, but ill be interested in the playtest at least.

Blasphemer.

 

[Sketchpad]

Had suspicions this was coming. I'll be interested in the final game... might even put a playtest group together.

 

[NerdyBird]

Awesome news! And the new logo is so much better!

 

[Kichwas]

I wish I could like this because I really want "fantasy Sci Fi" but they did everything wrong in the Starfinder setting from my preference POV.

I wanted fantasy in space - they gave us all new sciFi ancestries, not tied to any 'fictional IP' I have an attachment to nor even any 'mythos' to inspire. Not even 'people in funny costumes' to feel relatedness to.

Then they had all the fantasy ones 'go into hiding or become rare'. Elves even went into a pocket dimension and said 'nope' to existence.

I wanted galactic space exploration. We're locked to one solar system with no warp drive. That's what I prefer in 'hard science science fiction', but not 'fantasy sci fi' where I want exploration.

So then I want "futuristic Glorantha" - so they zapped the planet out of existence.

I would have preferred something like Shadowrun did - fantasy brought into a sciFi genre.

Now I'm just hoping I'm wrong about most of that or the setting gets major updates.

 

[Velderan]

I wonder if this is going to tank Starfinder Enhanced sales.

Probably will hurt them, but with the full playtest being a year away and then who knows how long from then until we get the official release I'd still buy Enhanced if Starfinder was the main TTRPG I was playing. On the other hand, at least this was announced before Enhanced releases so people buying it know there's a new edition coming up.