Greetings, Starfinders!
Thank you all so much for your participation in the Starfinder Second Edition playtest. We’ve had an immense number of downloads, which has led to some great commentary and feedback from our community. The entire Starfinder team has been carefully sifting through mountains of invaluable survey data (which you can still submit until December 31 at starfinderplaytest.com!). Whether you were a GM, player, or a passionate fan dissecting our playtest rulebook, every Starfinder should be proud of their contributions as they disembark this incredibly successful playtest!
Illustration by Mirco Paganessi
While the entire team is heads down analyzing your contributions and reactions, we wanted to share some of the changes we’re currently implementing to help give you a sample of the comprehensive improvements you’ll find in Starfinder Player Core (coming this summer). These notes assume you have been following our errata, all of which can be found on our FAQ page and the latest of which are summarized here.
Adventures!
We’ve learned a lot about how certain effects work in our adventures. One thing you’ll see is that the team will be judicious in the use of creature resistances and Hardness in adventures. We’ve also seen some good feedback on shorter adventures for Organized Play and are excited to explore the 2–3 hour time slot more. Expect to hear more on the adventure front in the months to come.
Ancestries
Good news for skittermanders who want to jump rope and wield a flamethrower at the same time: you are now going to be able to perform actions and use items with your other hands, but you can only wield items (such as shields and weapons) with your active hands.
Traversal
One new element we'll be introducing is the traversal trait. This new trait mostly applies to player-facing rules that reference Stride. When it applies, traversal allows the use of alternative movement types (burrow, fly, and swim) to be used in place of land Speed, akin to how Sneak works. Expect to see this greatly impact some abilities used by the envoy and solarian (to name a few).
Weapons
Most weapons have been… upgraded *puts on shades*. These include bigger magazines and damage, along with lower prices, bulk, and expend values. Some weapons have adjusted functions, including using modular as a way to switch traits on the fly, and a modular weapon with a nonlethal configuration.
Envoy
Envoys are becoming even more tactically diverse, with bespoke directives for each leadership style. Oh, and after analyzing the reaction to our bold experiment, we’ve decided that Get ’em! should be a bonus instead of a penalty—flanking’s back on the menu!
Mystic
We have streamlined the mystic experience by removing the transfer cost from most feats, and introduced a scaling cap to Transfer Vitality that helps balance the amount of healing you can provide. We’ve heard your requests and are also switching out some connection-granted spells!
Operative
Operative is a solid class, but we've made a few changes and buffed many specializations. We also took away Hair Trigger's ability to disrupt actions, and it's now a 6th-level feat. But operatives will be happy to see we’ve also buffed many specializations!
Solarian
Solar Flare is now a martial ranged weapon in the brawling weapon group that doesn’t take up a hand and will scale with solarian weapon crystals instead of by level. We’re also going to shift the solar nimbus into something that helps take the place of the very enticing Reactive Strike.
Soldier
We are exploring new ways to allow close quarters combat soldiers to use all those nifty area fire feats with their melee weapons. The changes we mentioned about weapons are going to have a big impact here, and we’re excited about where soldiers are headed.
Witchwarper
Quantum fields are now bigger, and all witchwarpers get Quantum Pulse at level 1, allowing them to Warp Reality as a free action when they roll initiative. We’re also building Quantum Transposition into the early level class abilities instead of as a feat you need to select. Instead of anchoring actions, anchors now provide automatic benefits when you Sustain your quantum field. Overall, the changes make quantum fields more effective and easier to use.
There are so many other exciting changes in our final edition of the game, both detailed and broad! Be sure to stay alert so you aren’t caught off guard! The new edition of the game launches this summer at Gen Con 2025, and our first Second Edition book, Starfinder Galaxy Guide, is available this spring.
—The Starfinder Team
Disembarking the Starfinder Second Edition Playtest
Friday, December 20, 2024
