Starfinder Society, Paizo's Newest Organized Play Program

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Immediately after the announcement of the Starfinder Roleplaying Game last PaizoCon, our community started speculating about an organized play program to support the new game. We spent the ensuing months looking at workflow and charting out a course that would enable us to have both Starfinder and Pathfinder organized play programs. It delights me to end speculation and announce the launch of Starfinder Society at Gen Con 50!

Introducing the Starfinder Society logo, designed by the talented Sarah Robinson!

Before the questions flood in, I want to note that we are still in the active planning phase, and may not have answers to everything yet. Over the next few months, the team will release more information via blog, podcast, and forum posts. If you have questions, please put yours in the comments section, and we will work to get them answered.

Who is working on Starfinder Society?

The structure is very similar to the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild. Tonya Woldridge will oversee the program, with John Compton taking on the role of lead developer of both the Pathfinder and Starfinder organized play campaigns. Developer Linda Zayas-Palmer will continue to focus on Pathfinder Society. We've added Thurston Hillman to the team as the dedicated developer for Starfinder Society. Thurston has been a part of Pathfinder Society since Season 1, when he authored Pathfinder Society Scenario #55:The Infernal Vault. Since then, he's both contributed many scenarios (and special events) to the Pathfinder Society as well as writing regularly for various other Pathfinder RPG lines. Thurston brings his depth of experience to the team, along with a bit of zany humor.

Is it going to be called "Starfinder Society?"

The official name is Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild, or SFSRPG for short. The Starfinder game takes place in the distant future of the Pathfinder world, and while much has changed (or been forgotten), the Starfinder Society traces its mysterious history back to the Pathfinder Society of present day. The campaign's official name reflects this connection.

Are you making two separate organized play programs?

Yes. Although many similarities exist in structure and format, including a shared volunteer team, they are two separate campaigns with different rules, documentation, and characters.

Do I get to keep my same Pathfinder Society number?

Yes. What was your Pathfinder Society number will now be your number for all three of the Paizo-operated organized play programs: Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild, Pathfinder Society Adventure Card Guild, and Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild. Starfinder character numbers will have a unique starting number, most likely 700, making your first Starfinder character XXX-701. The number 700 works really well for this, not only because it leaves space for plenty of Pathfinder Society roleplaying characters, but also because the PZO number (the number we assign to each of our products) begins with 7. Who knows, this bit of trivia may make it in to the PaizoCon quiz.

How much is staying the same from Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild?

We still have quests and scenarios with Chronicle sheets. Adventures will be broken into tiers, grant XP, and provide other rewards. Three experience points (XP) grant a level. There are fairly cooperative factions within the Starfinder Society, based on their worldview and goals. We will reveal more information about the campaign as we get closer to its launch in August 2017.

Illustration by Sebastien Hue

If all that is the same, what is different?

Starship combat!

On a more serious note, we made a couple major changes for Starfinder Society. The first is the tier system. We are closing the gap between subtiers that resulted in so much confusion and consternation with calculating average party level (APL). Starfinder scenarios will include the following tiers: Tier 1-2, Tier 1-4, Tier 3-6, Tier 5-8, Tier 7-10, and Tier 9-12—perhaps more as higher-level play grows in popularity.

The second most noticeable change is that characters have a means of belonging to more than one faction at a time. Unlike the current Pathfinder Society faction rules, Starfinder Society characters will be able to gain favor with multiple groups, choosing which they want to champion on a scenario-by-scenario basis. But just like multiclassing, focusing on several groups won't see the same benefits as focusing on a primary faction. These changes to the faction system tie in with another issue that we are addressing: the handling of boons. One of our goals is developing a way to make the boons on Chronicles more relevant, and not just a stack of paper player's stick in the back of their folder. We'll reveal more about these changes in... the future (see what I did there?)

What is the release schedule?

The Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild launches with 3 scenarios, 1 pre-generated character special, and 1 quest pack at Gen Con. From there, we will publish one scenario a month. Moving to a slower release schedule allows us to spin up the program and settle into the groove of running three organized play programs. During this time, we will solicit feedback and assess the rate of publication for 2018 and beyond.

When can I start playing Starfinder Society?

The fun begins Thursday, August 17th, at 8:00 AM Pacific time in the Sagamore Ballroom at Gen Con. After Thursday morning, anyone, anytime, anywhere, may schedule Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild events.

Next week sees John holding down the fort while I travel to the GAMA Trade Show in Las Vegas to chat with retailers about our organized play programs. The following Wednesday, March 22, at 7 pm PDT, John, Thurston, and I join the Know Direction crew for a Question and Answer session about all things organized play related. If you have topics you wish us to cover, feel free to drop me an email at tonya.woldridge@paizo.com and we will fit as many answers on the show as possible.

Check out the blog next Monday for more exciting organized play news!

Until next time—Explore, Report, Cooperate!

Tonya Woldridge
Organized Play Coordinator

New Starfinder Interview!

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

More exciting Starfinder work continues to churn around these parts, and with that, more information about the upcoming roleplaying game has made it's way to the masses! In an interview with Matt Miller over at Game Informer, our own James L. Sutter divulged more details about the process behind Starfinder (and creating this all-new core rulebook full of gameplay and setting material). I've snagged some of the new artwork and other information (including captions from James) to show off here, but you should check out the whole interview for all of the new juicy bits.

First up is our next iconic character, Iseph, the iconic operative!

Illustration by Remko Troost
This is Iseph, our iconic operative. The operative class is all about stealth, speed, and agility—whether you want to be a smuggler, a scout, an intrusion agent, or a black-ops assassin, this is the class for you. You'll also notice that Iseph is an android. Androids in Starfinder were originally created by humans as servitors, but in recent centuries fought for and won independence and recognition as full citizens of the Pact Worlds. While they have some interesting physical properties—they don't age, they handle vacuum much better than humans, and they have internal circuitry that glows when they're stressed—they also strive to distinguish themselves culturally from their former oppressors. One way in which some androids—like Iseph—do so is through the rejection of gender, which they see as an unnecessary mark of their former bondage.

Next, travelling to new worlds is a given in Starfinder—perhaps your future galaxy-hopping group may find themselves on a journey to either Liavara or Verces starting next summer?

Illustration by Leon Tukker
Liavara is a gas giant, with no solid surface at all, and those terrestrial races who come to mine its gasses or trade with the native creatures are forced to live on massive floating arcology platforms like this one. Much of the planet is held as a nature preserve by the Brethedans—gelatinous dirigible-like creatures who can alter their own DNA to produce whatever tools they need, from simple chemical compounds to tailored viruses. What's more, the Brethedans can actively merge together to create linked consciousnesses more intelligent and powerful than the sum of their parts, and some Brethedan biotech corporations are actually single massive entities consisting of millions of merged Brethedans.

Illustration by Sebastien Hue
Verces is a tidally locked world, with one side always facing the sun, the other always facing away. Civilization exists primarily in the narrow band of habitable terrain along the terminator line, where day meets night, and the massive cities that have grown there ring the globe in a single massive urban sprawl. In addition to being at the forefront of Pact World technology and industry, Verces is also the birthplace of the Stewards, a police-like organization of warrior-diplomats sworn to maintain the Pact, who hunt down interplanetary criminals and preserve peace between the sometimes fractious worlds of the solar system.

As always, keep your eye out on the Paizo blog for Starfinder news! You can also keep track up interviews and other features by following us on Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr.

Chris Lambertz
Community & Digital Content Director

This is Not a Dream

Friday, November 18, 2016

The end of 2016 is proving to be an exciting and incredibly busy time around the office! The Starfinder team is chipping away at the process of filling the gaps in our grand science fantasy plans and working with our playtesters. More and more bits of truly stunning artwork are trickling in, and it's starting to feel like this is all really happening now! Yesterday Polygon released an exclusive article, and since I've taken over the blog for today, it's about time we show off some places and a new iconic character here. Meet Navasi, an iconic Envoy!

Illustration by Remko Troost
The envoy is a class dedicated to aiding and manipulating others. They are giving orders and encouragement that help your allies do better, while taunting and demoralizing your opponents. Envoys are naturally charismatic leaders and smooth-talkers, ranging from celebrities and starship captains to con artists and cult leaders. Lando Calrissian, General Leia Organa, Ruby Rhod and Inara Serra would all be envoys. And as you can see, Navasi and Lando would definitely appreciate each other's taste in clothes.

Earlier this year we revealed a preview of Absalom Station on the main Starfinder page, and the final illustration is even more fantastic! Akiton and Eox are new planetary locations, seen below, and were also shown off in the article.

Illustration by Leon Tukker


Illustrations by Sebastien Hue and Leon Tukker

Keep an eye out for more Starfinder news as we get closer to it's launch next August!

Chris Lambertz
Community & Digital Content Director