Starfinder Anyone has insight on Starfinder 2E?

[TheAlkaizer]

I ran a pretty long campaign of Starfinder 1E and had a blast. However, some of the rules were a bit tedious and when they announced making a 2E with PF2E's chassis, I was invested.

Now, I've followed the playtest and development on and off. I definitely have no played it. So this is entirely perception and gut feeling. But I feel like they took too much of PF2E chassis and dropped several things that contributed to Starfinder 2E identity in my mind. It feels like having the game compatible with PF2E and have the content and math fit together was a higher priority design than just making the best decisions for what Starfinder 2E should be.

So, I'm curious as to what Starfinder 1E players think of Starfinder 2E. Anyone has insights? Is my gut feeling wrong?

 

[The-Magic-Sword]

I think that the answer to that question hinges very heavily on the specific nuance of "PF2E design decisions that you feel aren't the Best Decisions for Starfinder 2e" like some people have said they feel that way, but their apprehension is usually before playing it, or is revealed to be based on a general dislike of the 2e engine, rather than anything specific about it that doesn't suit Starfinder-- more like they were hoping it wouldn't suit Starfinder to incidentally arrive at a more 3.5e esque experience. The characters turned out balanced with their fantasy hero counterparts, but there's nothing inherently wrong with that, especially since the interoperability surpasses genre-- you can essentially use a Pathfinder class to make a very sci-fi character provided you blend it with Starfinder equipment.

I've also noticed that some of the bigger issues some people have trouble overcoming is the basic idea of sci-fi/fantasy being on power par, but that only comes up if you blend the games in a way that emphasizes the medieval nature of Pathfinder, like, if the PF characters are using medieval steel weapons and stuff-- if your Barbarian is using a Lightsaber... that's just a very particular breed of jedi/sith type and there's nothing to bother you.

That said, I've certainly seen plenty of Starfinder 1e players who were excited for it to come to the 2e engine, hoping for the better balance and streamlining (the 2e engine is generally regarded as much less tedious), full casters, etc. The Ancestry model really helps the 'cantina' vibe I think, because the aliens are more different from each other, they have more abilities associated with that side of them.

My own experience is that the characters and equipment from it do a good job of feeling Science Fantasy even when played alongside Pathfinder characters, like our Soldier with the Plasma Cannon in the jetpack wasn't outpacing our Rogue, but the way they were shelling areas and using their jetpack has a tacticool vibe to it you'd expect from the options.