Starfinder is rolling out its new Edition over the next few months. And the next big book in the lineup is the Starfinder GM Core.
Now that the Starfinder 2E Player’s Core is out in the wild, the true launch of Starfinder 2E has begun. The Srarfinder 2E GM Core is coming up next. And this is the book for all you sci-fi sickos out there. It has everything from how to make your own galaxies to starship combat. You know, all the stuff that makes Starfinder stand out from Pathfinder. And while you wait, the new Starter Set for Starfinder 2E, Murder in Metal City, is out now!
Starfinder 2E GM Core – Putting The Sci In Sci-Fantasy
It’s a tricky job, I’ll say that first and foremost. The Starfinder Gamemaster’s Guide not only gives GMs everything they need to run the game and create their own campaigns, but it also sets up what makes Starfinder 2E different from both Starfinder 1E and Pathfinder. Because the new Starfinder uses the PF2E ruleset, both games are cross-compatible. In fact, you could play a game of Pathfinder that eventually becomes Starfinder or vice versa.
But what makes Starfinder its own beast? What separates the alien ancestries from the fantasy ones? Is it just that some of the swords are made out of coruscating lights, and people say things like black hole and quantum singularity and jump drive? I mean that’s part of it. But then another part is what the rules have to say.
And that’s where the Starfinder GM Core really has its work cut out for it. Because there are a lot of genre-specific tools that we tend to expect from a sci-fi/sci-fantasy game. And really it’s the sci- part of the equation that the Gamemaster’s Guide focuses on. I mean – to a point. The book won’t be out here telling you how to simulate the abhorrent physics of space so that your players die alone in the cold and dark.
But it does have a lot of rules for for what feels like more sci- than -fantasy. Things like starships, for instance. The GM’s guide has rules for “cinematic starship combat” which is something that Pathfinder doesn’t really have. Most fantasy games, the closest they come is rules for siege weapons that you then put on ships and shoot at each other. Starship combat has to get a little more involved.
Hack The Planet – Or Make Your Own In The Starfinder Gamemaster’s Guide
And starship combat is just one example. The Starfinder GM Core sets up a lot of subsystems. Do you wantto hack the enemy mainframe? You can. And more to the point, you can hack enemy equipment – there’s a ruleset for dynamic hacking. How that’ll work, exactly, remains to be seen – but I’m gonna bet it leans on some of the feat/skill infrastructure.
The other big part of running the game comes with setting up the world and giving the GM tools to make it as expansive as they want. And the new book has rules for creating galaxies, for expanding the existing Pact Worlds. All are wrapped up in a handy little suite of design tools that let you zoom out or in to wherever you want on the galaxy map:
“Unleash your imagination, creating new galaxies and tales with the Starfinder GM Core for Starfinder Second Edition! This comprehensive 264-page rulebook gives Game Masters everything they need to craft thrilling tales of adventure, from a single-night’s scenario on the mean streets to complex epics spanning years. Within these pages you’ll find clear guidelines for creating new hazards and alien creatures, tools to design challenging, balanced encounters, and rules for rewarding characters for the dastardly challenges you array before them! Starfinder GM Core also contains rules for quick-to-run cinematic starship combat and dynamic hacking rules!”
Then of course, there’s the rules for creating new alien monsters (and you can look for more of those in the 3rd core rulebook, the Alien Core, due out even later this year), as well as rules for running research projects and conducting your own interstellar endeavours. All the fun long-term stuff that a sci-fantasy campaign might leave you feeling like you should be able to do. Because, while the game uses the Pathfinder framework, it has to stand on its own two (robotic) feet.
And with the Player Core, we get a taste of what that looks like. But the meal gets rounded out big time with the new GM Core. You can look for it later this year. But if you want a taste of what the GM rules might look like, you can take a peek at Murder in Metal City, the deluxe Starfinder adventure/starter box, also available now.
Starfinder 2E Starter Set: Murder In Metal City
Murder in Metal City is the Starfinder 2E starter set. As you might imagine, it has all the familiar bells and whistles that starter sets have these days. Not the least of which are maps and handouts and of course, cards galore:
“Murder in Metal City is a deluxe introductory boxed set adventure for four 1st-level Starfinder Second Edition characters containing numerous tools to assist GMs, including player and creature tokens, an immersive poster-sized double-sided battle map, investigation handouts, item cards, NPC cards, and a GM reference sheet and investigation tracker—everything required for a premium adventure experience!”
Murder abounds in this starter adventure. The players are strangers who are summoned to a bar somewhere deep in the heart of a megaplex city on Aballon, the planet of Machines. There, they learn that a mutual friend has been murdererd and has summoned them all to solve the mystery (and hopefully not get murdererd in the process).
If you want to jump in and test out Starfinder 2E to see if it’s for you or your group, this boxed set is a one-stop shop for giving it the fairest shake you can. And it’s available now!
Starfinder 2E – now with more feats!
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