Every year goes by so quickly, yet every year I end up looking back and realizing just how long it's been—and how much we've accomplished—since January. 2017's no exception. All the work that went into getting Starfinder Society going, we've been keeping busy bringing you more stories, adventures, art, and memories in Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild. While we've enjoyed all of the scenarios, there's a handful that I feel really defined 2017.

True to their history, Acquisitives are the most mercenary of the Starfinder Society factions. Their goals often involve promoting the Starfinder Society to the extent that it will increase the personal reputation of all members. They stockpile funds and resources, believing that by maintaining such a treasury, the faction can make itself indispensable to other factions within the Society. Indeed, many Starfinders pledge themselves, to varying degrees, to the Acquisitives faction for access to these assets. This influx of recruits is the direct byproduct of the Acquisitives' existing cache of resources, not to mention their preference of sending Starfinders on missions leading to personal glory and monetary enrichment.

Churches, corporations, governments, and other organizations all have secrets. The Dataphiles work to uncover these secrets, deciding what to share and what to store in their vast data vaults inside Archive's Cortex, a sector of the Lorespire Complex in Absalom Station. While not all information is shared beyond the Dataphiles' archives, the simple act of guarding knowledge acts as a guiding light for the Dataphiles. Data comes in many forms, and the Dataphiles employ more than just computer-specialists in their ranks. Those Starfinders skilled at withdrawing information from sentient creatures—either by coercion, discourse, or trickery—are highly valued. As their sites of interest are among the best-defended installations in the galaxy, the Dataphiles also have a pressing need for trained combat specialists—whether to have a strong arm protecting a hacker during a delicate operation, or to have an armed ally capable of getting the prize out alive.

The Wayfinders represent some of the Society's foremost experts in first contact scenarios. An organization dedicated to fully pursuing the Starfinder Society's mission statement of exploration, the Wayfinders are at the forefront of expeditions to scan a planet, set foot on an asteroid, or greet a previously unknown species. Wayfinders have a natural passion for exploration, be it through social situations with new species or discovering ancient alien ruins.

The creed of the Exo-Guardians is to protect the Pact Worlds from external threats. In the context of their membership within the Starfinder Society, this most often relates to participating in missions to acquire relics or technology of a defensive nature. Exo-Guardians excel in missions that lead to such discoveries, but they also serve an important secondary role within the Society of "sending a message" to threats that interfere in Society business. Be it a derelict starship overrun with mindless alien vermin, or a supposedly impenetrable fortress operated by forces opposed to the Society, it's often the Exo-Guardians who come in to handle the situation.