Critical hits are among the most dramatic, and most popular, moments in a Starfinder game session. A player scoring a critical hit is generally rewarded with cheers from fellow players, while an NPC scoring one often leads to groans and (hopefully good-hearted) booing. A critical hit can change the course of a battle, force new tactics to be adopted, and may also set a foe on fire, leave them insensate for a round, or even chop off a limb. Critical hits are rare, but memorable.

Ever since Pathfinder Adventure Path #3, when James Jacobs and Wes Schneider had to hold me back from putting a space elevator in Varisia, I've wanted to take Pathfinder to the stars. A year later, I had the honor of writing up Golarion's solar system in Pathfinder Adventure Path #14, and then expanding it further in Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Distant Worlds. But I'm not the only one around here in love with outer space and science fiction—I think all of us have at various times said, "Wouldn't it be fun to do a futuristic version of Pathfinder?" Yet aside from the occasional jaunt to other worlds in adventures like Pathfinder Adventure Path #70: The Frozen Stars, it's always been a dream just out of reach.