Expanded Starfinder support - Fiction? Comics? Standalone adventures?


General Discussion


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

I hope this is the right place to ask this. I've been playing with the same group for about 8 years now. We started in Pathfinder, specifically the standalone adventures and switched over to Starfinder when it came out. We are loving the world, but years in I'm finding the level of commitment by Paizo for Starfinder to be a bit worrisome, especially compared with how many offerings and products they provided for PF2 at launch.

It's great to have adventure paths but honestly, some of those are a bit long for my group, who is used to the standalone adventures we had for Pathfinder. Is there any talk about providing some of those? Or why it hasn't happened? I'd even settle for another round of 3-part adventure paths - anything more bite-sized than the full 6-book arcs.

Also, as a DM, I loved having fiction to draw inspiration from. The books and comics for Pathfinder really helped make the world come alive and find a tone for some settings. Is there a plan at all for comics or stories? It doesn't have to be an ongoing subscription, but even just a few to get us more lore in between the book releases?


I think you're holding Starfinder to something of an unrealistic standard.

Pathfinder has been out for many years and it was based on 3.5E which has a legacy tracing back decades. The sheer volume of content that already existed is huge. PF2 is a big deal and in a way, breaks the fundamental pact that got Pathfinder started in a sense - a way for people who liked 3.5e to keep going with it. So if you're going to do it, you need to really go in deep.

My point is that Pathfinder has mountains of material and has a lot of people playing it, hence a big customer base. Starfinder is doing well and is very popular, but it does not have nearly the same customer base. So Paizo is, arguably wisely, being careful with the resources they put into it. It'd be nearly impossible for any new setting to be as well supported as Pathfinder or 5E - it's just unrealistic if you expect the publisher not to go broke.

As for plans, the only thing I've seen is what Paizo told us on the next two books - something in June, and the Starship Operations Manual in August? (I think? I can't remember the details.)


Comics getting made is only partially under Paizo's control. They're interested, but Dynamite gets to make the decision. There's more detailed discussion of that somewhere in the forums.

Beyond that... Pathfinder is the main product.
Still, Starfinder gets more than most games, we are just that used to being spoiled by Paizo.
Near Space is the next book, the schedule as it up by the end of March.
We might get more 3 part APs, there's certainly been a lot of interest on the player's side, but not anytime soon. I don't know what's coming after the Conspiracy though.
And even if you don't play the APs, there's a lot on content in there, both setting information and rules. Which is not a fact I like much, but it is what it is.

I haven't heard anything about stand alone adventures.
I think the assumption is that you should look at SFS scenarios for that, which makes sense. They're short on their own, but some can be chained is longer arcs, it might fit your needs?
For that matter, PF2 has a couple but much less than PF1 did, so it's probably an overall policy shift. Which, again, makes sense : no point splitting the resources between two almost identical product lines.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
Wingblaze wrote:
I think you're holding Starfinder to something of an unrealistic standard. Pathfinder has been out for many years and it was based on 3.5E which has a legacy tracing back decades. The sheer volume of content that already existed is huge.

I certainly don't mean to imply that I expect anywhere near the same level of support for Starfinder as I do Pathfinder, both in comparison to previous content or going forward.

After all, as you highlighted, Pathfinder is a tested, established product line that even in its infancy biggy-packed off a larger franchise and an established market, so even early on they knew there was an audience for it.

Starfinder was a gamble, which I think has paid off. It is not as big as Pathfinder now nor is it likely ever to be, but it is also an opportunity to differentiate itself from the biggest competitors a bit more. It seems to have tracked well the past few years, so it would be great to see them build off that momentum and gradually expand the options. Comics and books might be ambitious, but the occasional quarterly or bi-annual adventure module seems like a reasonable investment.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
Nyerkh wrote:
Comics getting made is only partially under Paizo's control. They're interested, but Dynamite gets to make the decision. There's more detailed discussion of that somewhere in the forums.

Great to hear - I had no idea! Definitely makes sense that this might be out of their control. Honestly, I know any hope of books or comics might seem overly ambitious.

Nyerkh wrote:

I haven't heard anything about stand-alone adventures.

I think the assumption is that you should look at SFS scenarios for that, which makes sense. They're short on their own, but some can be chained is longer arcs, it might fit your needs?

It's something I might look into, for sure! I'd glanced at this in the past, but due to level gaps between scenarios and my fear of robbing people of some good SFS fun, I opted not to adapt those as a campaign. Still, they might provide enough solid inspiration to go ahead and make my own.

Nyerkh wrote:
...we are just that used to being spoiled by Paizo.

We truly, absolutely are!

Second Seekers (Jadnura)

Pathfinder Starfinder Society Subscriber

I think, taking every thing in aggregate, that Paizo is taking baby steps towards more stuff. There was a mini Starfinder comic arc at the end of the issues of 2018's Spiral of Bones Pathfinder comic run. They've started putting out Flash Fiction on the blog - first the iconic encounters, and now the Tales from the Drift, which appear to be being well received. I would also expect to hear some rumblings about what the next AP after Threefold Conspiracy (presumably starting August 2020) will be, considering they just revealed the new PF2 AP starting July 2020. (I personally am hoping for high-level 3-part AP :D) Plus, we know that sometime in 2020, a line of Starfinder Miniatures should be coming out? (#IDemandPlatyparianMiniatures)

All of that, plus little sly winks and non-answers in various Twitch streams and forum replies, makes me believe there's exciting things on the horizon for Starfinder, beyond the announced Near Space and Starship Operations Manual books. It's a very methodical test-the-waters-first approach, so don't expect big leaps, but - indications seem to be saying that the line is growing.


Sadronmeldir wrote:
Comics and books might be ambitious, but the occasional quarterly or bi-annual adventure module seems like a reasonable investment.

I have never been on the inside, but I'm not sure you're right. Adventures sell to GMs. Something like the COM can be purchased by players and GMs alike. Bigger audience will hopefully translate to better sales and more profit. I've started to suspect that adventures aren't very profitable in this industry. You need them to get your system being played, but they're not money makers. It's one of the reasons I think we saw the OGL in Third Edition - to farm out the less profitable activity.

All just my guesswork of course. And I think you're right - SF was a gamble and it has paid off.

Grand Lodge

Sadronmeldir wrote:
It's something I might look into, for sure! I'd glanced at this in the past, but due to level gaps between scenarios and my fear of robbing people of some good SFS fun, I opted not to adapt those as a campaign. Still, they might provide enough solid inspiration to go ahead and make my own.

The Starfinder Society adventures are great fun, and link up in many interesting ways. You could certainly do them as a home campaign for SFS credit, or unofficially with whatever rules you like. I really love how interesting and diverse the SFS adventures really are.

Hmm

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Kishmo wrote:
All of that, plus little sly winks and non-answers in various Twitch streams and forum replies, makes me believe there's exciting things on the horizon for Starfinder...

...but nothing we can tell you about for, oh, a week or so.

Oh, yeah... I almost forgot:
WINK


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
Vic Wertz wrote:
Kishmo wrote:
All of that, plus little sly winks and non-answers in various Twitch streams and forum replies, makes me believe there's exciting things on the horizon for Starfinder...

...but nothing we can tell you about for, oh, a week or so.

** spoiler omitted **

This is my favorite thing today. Laughed out loud... thank you!

Second Seekers (Jadnura)

Pathfinder Starfinder Society Subscriber

Vic Wertz, you sly bag of sugar and foxes! Why I oughta :D
(No but please - continue!)

Starfinder Developer

All I can say is, as a member of the Starfinder team, we would all LOVE to see stand-alone adventures, comics, and more fiction for the line. So please continue to ask for them!


2 people marked this as a favorite.

I see. So we want to see some more fiction, we demand it? Well we can vote with our dollars, right?

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