Starfinder‘s GM Core is out in the wild now. Inside its pages, everything you need to make your own little sci-fantasy corner of the galaxy.
Starfinder 2E is truly spinning up its engines to full with the release of the Starfinder 2E GM Core. As the name implies, this is the book for anyone who wants to dig deep into what makes Starfinder stand out. We’re talking starship combat. Alien NPCs. Rules for running adventures. Rules for making your own galaxies—or systems within said galaxies. All the crunchy “sci-” bits that go into “sci-fantasy”.
Starfinder 2E GM Core: All the Bloops and Bleeps For Your Starship Adventures
The Starfinder GM Core has its work cut out for it. After all, it’s got to help GMs launch whole new campaigns into strange new worlds full of new life and new civilizations. And that’s on top of giving GMs all the usual tools to run their own campaigns and adventures.
Fortunately, the new ruleset is the same one powering Pathfinder 2E these days. They are not only linked via mechanics, but connected via the world of Golarion, which exists in both games. Which I mention only because advice that you have for running Pathfinder is likely going to be applicable to Starfinder. Just in space.
But in the GM Core, we get into the genre-specific tools. You find all the alien hazards and rules for what happens when one starship decides to start a fight with another starship (possibly because of the people on board). And then there’s the intersection of magic to contend with as well. There are several ways to have mystical powers in Starfinder 2E, and the gamemaster’s book will help you account for them—even supplement them!
Hack the Planet – Or Make Your Own in the Starfinder Gamemaster’s Guide
And starship combat/magic is just one example. The Starfinder GM Core sets up a lot of subsystems. Do you want to hack the enemy mainframe? You can. And more to the point, you can hack enemy equipment—there’s a ruleset for dynamic hacking. So even if you’re somehow not a space wizard, you’ll be able to pull off things that feel like magic. Even if it’s just how fast you slice into an enemy’s blaster pistol to make it overload or whatever.
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!”
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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 at your FLGS or at the link below.
Starfinder 2E – now with more space in your space!
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