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.

 

[Green Onceler]

My issue with Starfinder has always been the goofy, cutesy setting and lacklustre pre-written adventures. Evidence suggests, following in PF2's footsteps will make these issues even worse, from my point of view.

 

[Reynard]

My issue with Starfinder has always been the goofy, cutesy setting and lacklustre pre-written adventures. Evidence suggests, following in PF2's footsteps will make these issues even worse, from my point of view.

The only thing "cutesy" in the setting are the skittermander. And while cutesy, they are also tasty -- like furry little gnomes!

 

[Green Onceler]

The only thing "cutesy" in the setting are the skittermander. And while cutesy, they are also tasty -- like furry little gnomes!

No, I don't think that's correct. There are space otters, magical bear people and God knows what else.

I was really excited for Starfinder when the core rulebook came out. However, once The Pact Worlds dropped interest began to cool. Compare that to The Inner Sea World Guide - it's not nearly as compelling a setting. Add to that the consistently, bland adventures and the system was effectively hobbled for me.

I understand a lot of people may enjoy the tone of the Starfinder releases, but I am not one of them.

 

[Nikosandros]

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.

That's a fair point. The new edition will probably came out in about two years, so plenty of time to get use of the book, even if a group plans to switch to the new edition.

 

[Thomas Shey]

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

Well, that's you. Its not a coincidence that PF2e is one of the only three D20 derived games I'll bother with.

 

[Retreater]

There's a chance that I'll actually play Starfinder now. This will be 100% dependent on how they implement starship combat.

 

[payn]

There's a chance that I'll actually play Starfinder now. This will be 100% dependent on how they implement starship combat.

Good point, Im really interested to see how that shakes out!

 

[Reynard]

Good point, Im really interested to see how that shakes out!

I'm one of those wierdos that likes the SF starship combat system. I think it is just the right amount of complexity to be able to use every once in a while. I don't think SF benefits from a ship battle every session.

 

[payn]

I'm one of those wierdos that likes the SF starship combat system. I think it is just the right amount of complexity to be able to use every once in a while. I don't think SF benefits from a ship battle every session.

I never ran SF ship combat so im not sure. Most of my experience is with Traveller that has not quite felt as good as it should for me. Though I agree, Id prefer a game that isnt about ship combats every session.

 

[ninjayeti]

Personally I liked SF much better than PF2. I get why it makes sense to have the two games run off the same system, but it is probably the end of SF for me.