August 2025 Organized Play Monthly Update

[Arita]

I’m confused, if you don’t issue chronicle sheets for Starfinder adventures, do they not give any XP for society? Say, if you play Murder in Metal City, how much XP is that?

[Squark]

Congratulations to the new Campaign coin jolders and 5 glyph GMs!

Arita wrote:

I’m confused, if you don’t issue chronicle sheets for Starfinder adventures, do they not give any XP for society? Say, if you play Murder in Metal City, how much XP is that?

That is correct, without a chronicle sheet, playing these adventures does not award society credit.

[Peff]

Is the reason for no AP XP for Society related to the lower SFS level cap? I admit, I'm disappointed to hear that there won't be boons or credit for running them now.

[Squark]

Peff wrote:

Is the reason for no AP XP for Society related to the lower SFS level cap? I admit, I'm disappointed to hear that there won't be boons or credit for running them now.

I don't think that squares with letting people start characters at level 3 or higher.

[Moon_Goddess]

I assume the * means "this is part of a subscription" but it's really bad form to have an article with a * and no way to know what the * means.

[Matt Duval]

Congratulations to everyone who got their 5th glyph!

And good luck to everyone defending Breachill!

[Alex Speidel]

Moon_Goddess wrote:

I assume the * means "this is part of a subscription" but it's really bad form to have an article with a * and no way to know what the * means.

My bad, it does! Must've accidentally cut that from my draft.

[Noven]

This is a huge change about not having campaign mode credit for AP completion, about 90% of my participation in SFS and PFS was campaign mode playing the APs and having super sweet and stacked level 13 characters.

[Arita]

I mostly think it's confusing. Murder on Metal City at the end suggests you continue your campaign after by doing SFS, but also if you swap to running SFS scenarios, none of the XP the characters get transfers at all, unless the advice is supposed to be to run society without running society, which I think it's a bit odd

[Noven]

Arita wrote:

I mostly think it's confusing. Murder on Metal City at the end suggests you continue your campaign after by doing SFS, but also if you swap to running SFS scenarios, none of the XP the characters get transfers at all, unless the advice is supposed to be to run society without running society, which I think it's a bit odd

More than confusing. You get character options in the adventure Murder on Metal City, but no credit for running or playing in it. Taking out adventures for credit is a serious issue because that is a massive change to how organized play has been run for the past, I dunno, 15 years?

I think we really need to hear from the higher-ups at SFS because this sounds pretty bad. If this is the case, I don't really see myself participating in SFS anymore, which is a damned shame.

I guess my Outlaws of Alkenstar will be my last AP in campaign mode.

[Violet_Jade]

Will the applicable spells for each curriculum expansion boon (or their criteria, if it is based on spell traits and not a specific list of spells) be listed in the FAQ? Or, are they already listed somewhere and I've missed them? I'm very curious about those boons.

[Pirate Rob]

I'm not seeing the text for the wizard school boons on the FAQ page.

[Squark]

Violet_Jade wrote:

Will the applicable spells for each curriculum expansion boon (or their criteria, if it is based on spell traits and not a specific list of spells) be listed in the FAQ? Or, are they already listed somewhere and I've missed them? I'm very curious about those boons.

I've seen screenshots of them from people who've bought the boons (they were stealth dropped a week or so before Gen Con). They more or less double the size of the base schools.

[Alex Speidel]

Violet_Jade wrote:

Will the applicable spells for each curriculum expansion boon (or their criteria, if it is based on spell traits and not a specific list of spells) be listed in the FAQ? Or, are they already listed somewhere and I've missed them? I'm very curious about those boons.

My apologies, those slipped my mind but I have put them into the queue for the FAQ page. In the meantime, please see the spoiler below for the spells added to wizard curriculae:

Spoiler:

Ars Grammatica:

cantrips: read aura

1st: carryall, mindlink, signal skyrocket

2nd: burrow ward, revealing light

3rd: bind undead, mind of menace

4th: seal fate, Ymeri’s mark

5th: engrave memory, scouting eye

6th: collective transposition, vibrant pattern

7th: energy aegis, spell riposte

8th: hidden mind, sudden transposition

9th: telepathic demand

Battle Magic:

cantrips: needle darts

1st: chilling spray, sure strike, thunderstrike

2nd: acid grip, blazing bolt

3rd: crashing wave, lightning bolt

4th: ice storm, vampiric maiden

5th: corrosive muck, toxic cloud

6th: arrow salvo, field of razors

7th: eclipse burst, telekinetic bombardment

8th: falling sky, whirlpool

9th: implosion

Civic Wizardry:

cantrips: telekinetic hand

1st: alarm, mud pit, weaken earth

2nd: shape wood, waterproof

3rd: locate, wall of thorns

4th: airlift, shape stone

5th: magic passage, telekinetic haul

6th: petrify, wall of metal

7th: lifewood cage, planar seal

8th: falling sky, ferrous form

9th: resplendent mansion

Mentalism:

cantrips: message

1st: command, sleep, ventriloquism

2nd: phantasmal treasure, translate

3rd: hypnotize, oneiric mire

4th: confusion, suggestion

5th: hallucination, sending

6th: mislead, truesight

7th: retrocognition, true target

8th: confusing colors, unrelenting observation

9th: telepathic demand

Protean Form:

cantrips: take root

1st: ant haul, leaden steps, weaken earth

2nd: clad in metal, water breathing

3rd: coral scourge, curse of lost time

4th: aerial form, countless eyes

5th: mantle of the unwavering heart, transmute rock and mud

6th: dragon form, tangling creepers

7th: energy aegis, pollen pods

8th: ferrous form, rainbow fumarole

9th: foresight

Boundary:

cantrips: warp step

1st: enfeeble, fear, summon animal

2nd: peaceful rest, vomit swarm

3rd: gravity well, rouse skeletons

4th: clairvoyance, vampiric maiden

5th: summon dragon, wave of despair

6th: collective transposition, phantom orchestra

7th: hungry depths, mask of terror

8th: arctic rift, summon elemental herald

9th: resplendent mansion

[Benedict Votras]

Peff wrote:

Is the reason for no AP XP for Society related to the lower SFS level cap? I admit, I'm disappointed to hear that there won't be boons or credit for running them now.

AP Chronicles are usually allowed to be applied to any level character and then scaled appropriately (at least in PFS2e which SFS2e is based off). So I don't think it is a level mismatch issue.

My guess is that it probably has more to do with saving the team time from needing to sanction APs and not needing to worry about the narrative (sanctioning a hypothetical future AP where you help the Aspis Consortium would be awkward).

Additionally, now that you can start your characters up to level 5 and all the scenarios are replayable, the value of the Chronicle to the player seems lower. In PFS2e, getting a 'free' level up on a mid/high level character is quite a boon, particularly after your 1st character. Whereas in SFS2e, the entire level range ought to be easily reachable via scenario play.

[Chris Marsh]

No chronicles for other Starfinder games is a major bummer, and I hope that changes. Campaign mode is a stable in my lodge.

[Hilary Moon Murphy]

Hey all, I would like to propose moving the Starfinder Sanctioning Conversation to here:

A Plea for more Sanctioned Starfinder Society Content

That would allow this blog post thread to concentrate on celebrating our new adventures, GenCon experiences and our brand new five rank and Campaign Coin Volunteers.

Thanks so much!

Hmm

[Swiftpaws the Maned Wolf]

So jotunborn are freely available to every society player with the book, no boon necessary; yet so many other ancestries that are more common and have a decent presence in the world are still locked behind boons. I am confused why and also is that how things will be going forward for new ancestries.

[Hilary Moon Murphy]

I would like to congratulate the many volunteers who were celebrated in this blog!

Greg Garcia, John Kaufeld, and Kurt Wasiluk, thank you for all your work in making the campaign wonderful! We are so proud of all of you!

Randy Cronin, Daniel Hutchinson, James Reeves and Allan Ong (the latter who qualified for 5 rank too late to make today's blog) -- WONDERFUL! Welcome to the 5-rank club!

Hugs to all of you!
Hmm

[UncleFroggy]

Thanks, Hilary. I just need to wait a month to see my name in lights! :)

[Hilary Moon Murphy]

Those 5 Glyphs look great on you, Allan!

[Squark]

Swiftpaws the Maned Wolf wrote:

So jotunborn are freely available to every society player with the book, no boon necessary; yet so many other ancestries that are more common and have a decent presence in the world are still locked behind boons. I am confused why and also is that how things will be going forward for new ancestries.

There are 3 reasons, I suspect-

1) They didn't want to lock an Ancestry used by a pregenerated character behind 160 AcP.
2) The society's current mission of collecting warshards and keeping them out of the hands of those who want to use them for ill aligns with the reason the Jotunborn seems to have come to Golarion, so allying with the society is a natural fit.
3) The Jotunborn are at least in part an answer to the popularity of Goliaths in Dungeons and Dragons, so letting new players make Jotunborn characters makes it easier for people to port characters over

[Kurt Wasiluk]

Hilary Moon Murphy wrote:

I would like to congratulate the many volunteers who were celebrated in this blog!

Hmm

Thanks Hilary for the congratulations! I appreciate you being such a positive force on the forums, both celebrating the people and being an Organized Play advocate for the GM's and players that enjoy the games! Feels like I "liked" a few of your posts in different spots today where you're proposing some sensible changes/adjustments.

[Ezekieru]

The Paizo Live stream mentioned in this blog has been delayed to August 22nd, according to Paizo staff in the comments of the original "Get Ready for GenCon" blog post. If the date could be edited to prevent further confusion, it'd be appreciated!

[Swiftpaws the Maned Wolf]

Squark wrote:

There are 3 reasons, I suspect-

1) They didn't want to lock an Ancestry used by a pregenerated character behind 160 AcP.
2) The society's current mission of collecting warshards and keeping them out of the hands of those who want to use them for ill aligns with the reason the Jotunborn seems to have come to Golarion, so allying with the society is a natural fit.
3) The Jotunborn are at least in part an answer to the popularity of Goliaths in Dungeons and Dragons, so letting new players make Jotunborn characters makes it easier for people to port characters over

I guess that makes sense, especially 2. Still would've loved to see awakened animals atleast discounted, given the effects of the godsrain

[MVulpius]

I just bought the Murder in Metal module, excited to use it again and again to introduce folks to SFS. Now I kinda regret actually buying a physical copy since it sounds like it won't be useful considering most society players will look at it and question why they aren't doing something that would give them anything to show for it.

It has become abundantly clear there is something very off about the level of effort being put into 2e SFS that stings for those of us that loved SFS1e. Despite the lesser attention to the smaller game the small cadre of developers and writers put a lot into making a unique and complex living world. And while the system and writing seem to follow this prior standard (or even exceed it) it seems strange that for the second edition follow up support to making a vibrant and engaging global campaign is being abandoned.

If all of system/campaign stuff that is being cut is so much of a burden for Paizo staff to support why not cut back some from PFS instead? Considering the feelings of SF1e being under supported in the past (old folks around here should remember how Pathfinder Online was supposed to be the big thing around that time, while this strange science fantasy game was just an experiment) the least that could be done is to give equal preference to both of Paizo's worlds, if not more support to the newest one.

PS. I see you there Randy; way to go! Now we need to get you your last few SFS1e games ;)

[sanwah68]

Congratulations to the Campaign Coin and five Glyph recipients.

Well Done! Three cheers!!!

[azjauthor]

Quote:

As a reminder, you have three weeks before the September 5th deadline to register your first Starfinder Society (second edition) game and unlock a skittermander character in Pathfinder Society! To help our our play-by-post community, this applies specifically to games begun on or before September 5th.

Can someone direct me to where the original post about this might be? Do we have to run a game to qualify for this, or do we qualify if we have a play of a SFS2e game? Is there a boon we need to download?

[logsig]

azjauthor wrote:

Quote:

As a reminder, you have three weeks before the September 5th deadline to register your first Starfinder Society (second edition) game and unlock a skittermander character in Pathfinder Society! To help our our play-by-post community, this applies specifically to games begun on or before September 5th.

Can someone direct me to where the original post about this might be? Do we have to run a game to qualify for this, or do we qualify if we have a play of a SFS2e game? Is there a boon we need to download?

The information can be found on the character options page for PFS2 under the Starfinder Player Core book: LINK.

It says, in its entirety:

Character Options page wrote:

Players and GMs who register at least one Starfinder Society (second edition) game on or before September 5, 2025 may create one Pathfinder Society (second edition) character using the skittermander ancestry (Starfinder Player Core 70).

Playtest adventures do not qualify, as those were reported as SFS1 games. Anything reported in the paizo.com reporting system under SFS2 qualifies (i.e. the Free RPG Day adventure, Battle for Nova Rush does qualify).

There is no boon to download. Note that as no Starfinder books are core sources for PFS2 you will need a copy of that book.

[Hilary Moon Murphy]

It's listed on the Pathfinder Second Edition Player Character options page under options from Starfinder Player Core.

◈ You can run or play by the deadline, or join a PBP Gameday XIV play-by-post game running Starfinder 2e that starts before that date.

◈ There is no boon to download. Treat this as the honor system. If you want proof, you can make a copy of your chronicle from the SF2 game and keep it with your Pathfinder character.

◈ Playtest adventures do not count for this.

[Hilary Moon Murphy]

Ninja'd by Logsig!

[Colbonation]

I can see myself in that picture! Such a fun time!

[fine_young_misanthrope]

Good update for Starfinder Society and the adventures! Let's me know not not buy that stuff nor run any of that stuff. Saves me some time and money!

[Hilary Moon Murphy]

fine_young_misanthrope wrote:

Good update for Starfinder Society and the adventures! Let's me know not not buy that stuff nor run any of that stuff. Saves me some time and money!

By 'that stuff', does that mean Starfinder Adventure Paths and Modules?

Hmm

[Captain Kortos]

Also, I just wanted you all to know that I put together my first Commander. Battlecry is an amazing book, and the authors should be proud!

[UncleFroggy]

Captain Kortos wrote:

Also, I just wanted you all to know that I put together my first Commander. Battlecry is an amazing book, and the authors should be proud!

And I've got her at my table!! :)