A cool autumn breeze blew across the woodlands, its scent carrying the promise of snow that was, for now, still trapped in distant mountains. The wind rustled leaves across the ground, shaking a few remaining bits of gold and crimson foliage from their branches. Birds sang in the background, but the clearing was otherwise silent, except for…

As the white-bearded man casually strolled across the rainy courtyard, shadowy figures kept pace with him atop the buildings surrounding the square. The older man didn’t seem aware of the dark shapes stalking him, first from a distance, then closer, along his path. Nor did he show surprise when the ruffians stepped out of the shadows, blades glinting. The tallest of the black-clad figures spoke with a low growl.

First, you realize you are floating.

Zemir stepped around a fetid pool of… something… and tried to breathe shallowly. Intellectually he knew that either his mask was working or it wasn’t, and either way the worst he’d suffer was a strong sense of nausea if he did get a whiff of unfiltered air. But the horrid smell that penetrated the mask’s filters still made him want to avoid taking deep lungfuls of the stuff. Which made it difficult to keep up with Obozaya, as his vesk companion strode unfettered through the densely-packed market.

Seelah took a moment to run a mental checklist before leaving the last place of cover. The sun was high, brightly keeping shadows at bay and ensuring she had clear lines of sight. It also ensured that as soon as she stepped into the courtyard, she would be spotted. Stealth was not her area of expertise in any case. She would need different tactics to overcome her foes, and she hoped she had planned well enough. If she had not, the consequences would be dire.

As excited as we were to construct the Starfinder Beginner Box as a fun, intuitive, and effective introduction to the Starfinder universe, we were also daunted by the challenges of trying to make a complete game that did justice to something we first presented in a 528-page rulebook. Even just the Tactical Rules chapter of the Starfinder Core Rulebook is more than 50 pages long, which would eat up more than a quarter of the pagecount we had in the Beginner Box rulebooks that also needed a solo adventure, introductory adventure, an introduction to numerous RPG concepts, advice, character classes, setting material, and so much more.