Starfinder Roleplaying Game
{{Short description|Tabletop role-playing game}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Infobox game
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| image = File:Starfinder Core Rulebook.jpg
| image_caption = Core rulebook
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| publisher = Paizo Publishing
| date = August 2017{{cite web | url=https://www.blackgate.com/2016/05/31/pathfinderannouncements/ | title=Pathfinder Goes to the Stars (And Other Announcements) – Black Gate | date=May 31, 2016 }}
| years = 2017 – present
| genre = Role-playing game
| system = d20 system
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| random_chance = Dice rolling
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| web = {{url|http://paizo.com/starfinder}}
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The Starfinder Roleplaying Game is a science-fiction/science fantasy role-playing game published by Paizo Publishing. It is built on Paizo's previous game, the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, both in its game mechanics and universe, but adapted to a more futuristic style than its fantasy predecessor; game content is intended to be easily convertible between the two systems. Like its predecessor, the Starfinder RPG supports adventure paths and other material written by Paizo and third party publishers.
Background
Starfinder draws inspiration from many other science-fiction and space opera franchises, including Star Wars, Alien, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Warhammer 40,000.{{cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/starfinder-brings-fan-favorite-fantasy-tabletop-rpg-to-space/ |title='Starfinder' Brings Fan Favorite Fantasy Tabletop RPG to Space |last=Nelson |first=Samantha |date=August 17, 2017 |website=Waypoint |publisher=Vice Media |access-date= August 28, 2017}} Paizo first released a science-fiction product in 2012, with the Distant Worlds supplement to Pathfinder. After the success of Distant Worlds, Paizo decided to create the new system, using it as a base.
The Starfinder RPG was announced in May 2016 on Paizo's website and officially released at Gen Con in August 2017.{{cite web |url=http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/v5748dyo5litw?Announcing-the-Starfinder-Roleplaying-Game |title=Announcing the Starfinder Roleplaying Game! |last=Sutter |first=James |date=May 28, 2016 |website=Paizo Blog |publisher=Paizo Publishing |access-date=August 28, 2017}}
A second edition of Starfinder is planned to launch in 2025, with Paizo offering a series of "field test" materials available to test to players in 2024. Starfinder 2e is set to be fully compatible with Pathfinder 2e, which will allow a GM to introduce fantasy elements into the Starfinder setting or vice versa.{{cite web | url=https://www.gamesradar.com/sci-fi-dandd-rival-starfinder-is-getting-a-revamp/ | title=Sci-fi D&D rival Starfinder is getting a revamp | date=August 7, 2023 }} The new rules also move Starfinder away from the controversial Open Game License used by Wizards of the Coast to a less restricted Open RPG Creative License developed by Paizo.{{cite web | url=https://www.polygon.com/24206159/starfinder-2e-playtest-launch-pathfinder-compatible-gen-con | title=The Starfinder 2e playtest helps Paizo reach beyond D&D's gravitational pull | website=Polygon | date=August 2024 }}
Design
Starfinder is based on the first edition of Paizo's previous game, Pathfinder, and like its predecessor uses the d20 system created by Wizards of the Coast for Dungeons & Dragons. Starfinder shares its setting with Pathfinder, set in its far future after Golarion, the planet that Pathfinder was set on, had mysteriously disappeared in an event called "The Gap". The history of the planet during the disappearance is lost to all races, preventing players from returning and interfering with previous events in the Pathfinder timeline, while also acting as the foundation of Starfinder's own timeline. Because Starfinder shares its past with Pathfinder, races and monsters of the Pathfinder setting persist in the Starfinder universe alongside new alien races from other worlds. Magic remains a part of the game's mechanics, often intertwined with high-level technology. In the time since the Gap, allied races formed an alliance called the Pact Worlds for diplomacy, trade, and technological sharing, with Absalom Station as their focal point for these activities. An organization called the Starfinder Society, based on Absalom Station and other planets, was established to seek out pre-Gap technology and any information that may have explained what happened prior to that event.
Similar to Pathfinder, the game features personal combat using weapons and magic, though these systems have been simplified and adjusted to the futuristic setting.{{cite web |url=https://www.tabletopgaming.co.uk/board-games/reviews/starfinder-review |title=Starfinder review |last=Jarvis |first=Matt |date=August 21, 2017 |website=Tabletop Gaming |publisher=Warners Group Publications |access-date=August 28, 2017}}{{cite web |url=https://geekdad.com/2017/05/retrieve-starfinder-rpg/ |title=Retrieve 'Starfinder RPG.' Priority One. All Other Priorities Rescinded. |last=Hiller |first=Ryan |date=May 20, 2017 |website=GeekDad |access-date=August 28, 2017}} In addition, Starfinder also has rules regarding starships, space combat, and faster-than-light travel.{{cite web |url=https://www.polygon.com/features/2016/11/17/13625140/starfinder-rpg-pathfinder |title=Starfinder hopes to do for space opera what D&D has done for fantasy |last=Hall |first=Charlie |date=November 17, 2016 |website=Polygon |publisher=Vox Media |access-date=August 28, 2017}} Starfinder retains the traditional fantasy races as choices for players (for example, elves, dwarves, and orcs), but offers a different set of races as the standard, including the reptilian vesk and rat-like ysoki, while also offering several non-traditional choices such as a "seven-armed starfish". Starfinder also introduces a new array of seven character classes for players to choose from, which can be further customized, and body augmentations which can give different abilities. Starfinder is designed so that content from Pathfinder can be easily converted to Starfinder and vice versa; the game has guidelines on converting characters and monsters between the two systems.
With the changes to Pathfinder in its second edition in 2019, Paizo began working on a similar update to Starfinder. The goal with these updates were to make Starfinder fully compatible with Pathfinder 2nd Edition, so that a player familiar with one system could easy adapt to the other system, as well as to open the opportunity for game masters to mix content between the two settings. Paizo also did not want to break their lore, keeping core rules from previous 1st Edition supplementary books while expanding on lore such as the Drift Crisis. Play test rules for Starfinder 2nd Edition were released in 2024 to get player feedback, with expectation to publish the first 2nd Edition materials in 2025.{{cite web | url = https://www.polygon.com/tabletop-games/503984/starfinder-second-edition-cover-reveal-interview | title = Starfinder Second Edition breaks through in a crowded year of releases | first = Rowan | last = Zeoli | date = January 3, 2025 | accessdate = January 3, 2025 | work = Polygon }}
Reception
Early reviews praised Starfinder for its streamlined rules and expansive, flexible setting.{{cite web |url=https://www.polygon.com/2017/8/28/16215278/starfinder-core-rulebook-review-pathfinder-paizo-gen-con |title=Starfinder is here, and it's fantastic |last=Hall |first=Charlie |date=August 28, 2017 |website=Polygon |publisher=Vox Media |access-date=August 28, 2017}} The new starship combat rules also received praise, though some criticism was pointed at its repetitiveness and lack of options.
Starfinder won the 2018 Origins Award for Fan Favorite Role-Playing Game.The Academy of Adventure Game Arts and Design (2018): [https://www.originsawards.net/s/Origins-Awards-Winners-2018.pdf Origins Awards Winners2018 - 44th Annual Ceremony] (pdf).
Supplementary content for the game continued to receive a warm reception, including Ports of Call, and Drift Hackers.{{Cite web |last=Hall |first=Charlie |date=2023-01-19 |title=After D&D's missteps, Paizo's Pathfinder and Starfinder enter 2023 stronger than ever |url=https://www.polygon.com/tabletop-games/23560520/pathfinder-starfinder-2023-preview-how-to-get-started |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=Polygon |language=en-US}}
In a review of Starfinder in Black Gate, Andrew Zimmerman Jones said "What Starfinder has going for it, I think, is that the setting allows for a lot of different types of gameplay at the same time. If you wanted to play a galactic rebellion space fantasy, the system allows for it. A gritty cyberpunk game of corporate espionage? That's there, too. A planetary romance adventure? A derelict ship full of space zombies? A ragtag crew of outlaw heroes, a la Firefly or Guardians of the Galaxy? A post-apocalyptic dystopia? Explore new worlds and new civilizations? Yup, those are all covered."{{cite web | url=https://www.blackgate.com/2017/09/25/starfindercharacter/ | title=Modular: Starfinder Under the Hood – Character Creation – Black Gate | date=September 25, 2017 }}
Alex Meehan for Dicebreaker named Starfinder one of the best tabletop role-playing games to play in 2024.{{Cite web |last=Meehan |first=Alex |date=2022-02-21 |title=Best tabletop RPGs 2024 (that aren't Dungeons & Dragons 5E) |url=https://www.dicebreaker.com/categories/roleplaying-game/best-games/best-tabletop-rpgs |access-date=2024-09-26 |website=Dicebreaker |language=en}}
See also
References
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External links
- [http://paizo.com/starfinder Starfinder official website]
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Category:Origins Award winners
Category:Role-playing games introduced in 2017
Category:Science fantasy role-playing games