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So I've been away from gaming for a long time. My kids are finally old enough to game with me. I'm currently planning on getting the Beginner Box, Core Rulebook, Alien Archive, and the Alien Archive Pawn Box. I am looking to be able to play at least until July on my first purchase. I am comfortable designing my own adventures. Are there any other must buy books upfront, or will that last us a while?
My daughter only picked her characters based on appearance and also loved using summon creature - so you should be good with what you got.
My son was a number-cruncher, so armory was a must.
We played when they were 10 years old I believe, for about 2 years, before they were sucked in to the world of digital gaming. But I bet they'll come back to it eventually, when they are older and wiser.
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My daughter only picked her characters based on appearance and also loved using summon creature - so you should be good with what you got.
My son was a number-cruncher, so armory was a must.
We played when they were 10 years old I believe, for about 2 years, before they were sucked in to the world of digital gaming. But I bet they'll come back to it eventually, when they are older and wiser.
Thank you. That was exactly the input I was looking for. I'm going to start with what I've picked out, and then add some more sometime this summer.
When I stopped gaming due to life happening Starfinder wasn't even announced... I don't think Distant Worlds was announced either. I'm a Sci-Fi junky so I am really looking forward to digging into this. I'm buying in sight unseen so I am trying to make sure I get all I need to play with a map for a while, but nothing more to start with. I was very unhappy with the way Star Wars played so I want to wet my feet before I jump all in. :-)
The Character Operations Manual is great for bringing a few more traditional DnD character concepts into Starfinder.
Also, a lot of the published materials are collected in the Archives of Nethys for free access online.
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I am still a newer player and I was given very good advice on what to start with from the folks here.
First, the PDFS are GREAT!
Core Rule Book
Armory or COM next
Then any of the Alien Archives for fun and the Pact Worlds for flavor and fun
Look at fleabay for the Iconic Mini packs, they can be found cheap there. Welcome to the forum and good gaming to you!
That's probably all you need to get started, especially if you're designing your own adventures.
Armory and character operations manual have more player facing crunch.
The Alien archives are your usual bestiary, except between all the various sources we're near a hundred playable races - choice paralysis for a new player, but a huge plus to starfinder as a system in my view.
Pact worlds has the default setting information in detail, if that's the setting you want.
Depending on how you feel about starship combat, you might want to grab a hex mat, there's a basic starfield one available.
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I think for "minimum required for a campaign", the CRB and Alien Archive are what you absolutely need. Alien Archive because it's got both a lot of monsters, and the rules for generating new monsters.
After that, Pact Worlds is really good for setting.
From a player perspective, Armory and Character Operations Manual the biggest bags of new building options. They're very, very nice to have, but I wouldn't call them "required".
If you're interested in the default setting, Pact Worlds is definitely worth getting. Outside of that, the core rulebook and Alien Archive are a perfectly serviceable backbone to build a game with.
If you're less attached to owning copies of everything and are comfortable with online viewing, there are two SRDs that both have almost all of the game's mechanical content; the official SRD Archives of Nethys, and the unofficial The Hidden Truth. THT in particular has a page that lets you filter by source, so even if you want to actually own various books eventually, you can still check out the mechanical options they offer ahead of time.
It's not necessary, but I'd definitely at least consider downloading some of the SFS modules and using them (even in a home game). Several of them do a very good job of showing what's possible in the setting. Both the Historia-7/Zigvigix storyline and the Salvation's End storyline are fantastic as is anything with Zo! or Fitch. You could easily build an entire campaign around that stuff.
Having the physical or .pdf versions is very important, due to all the art you can show your kids.
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Must haves? You got them. I mean, technically you don't need the beginner's box or the pawns (though they certainly are nice.) If they get really into their characters there are some sci-fi minis made by Reapermini's Bones line (the plastic minis) that you could have fun painting with your kids. That way they could have full 3-d minis instead of standees.
Oh, you will need a map if you are going to go that way. A generic Pathfinder flip mat and some expo markers to draw maps. Don't get the Starfinder one, the generic brown and grey one I find is more universally applicable than the metal floor/red desert Starfinder basic map.
Lots and lots of little plastic soldiers
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I'm planning on painting mini's with them once they have found a character they like (I don't want to expend the effort until they settle into a character(for the first campaign there is going to be a little bit of immunity)). I'm grabbing the beginner's box for the flip mat, and more pawns (Looks like it has extras of commonly used low level enemies).
I already have the Pathfinder Beginner Box, and the pawns/flip mat that come with it are really nice. I've always done theater of the mind, and I've found it makes it so that it is really easy to not be where you thought you are. So with the kids until they get some experience we're going to use a mat.
My oldest is going to be running Pathfinder soon, and I'm going to be running Starfinder because I love the idea of a Sci-Fi setting.
I really would look at some of the starfinder society scenarios. They're a lot of fun, and probably the best thing about starfinder.
I will also echo what the others have said.
Grab some Starfinder Society scenarios. They are well done and a lot of fun to play.