One class at a time? Cool!

[BotBrain]

I'm still reading through and thinking about luminary but I just wanted to say I think I'm a big fan of only having one class per book. (I'm assuming that's what happening, and not that the second class will be revealed later).

I think a big problem pathfinder has is that a lot of things are just not revisited, and it's probably a casuality of page count more than anything. You slap in your two classes, your archtypes, magic items and lore and there's only a few pages left.

If one class at a time means books can come with more things for older content (Esp class feats, archtypes, i'm a big fan).

This may also be to put a bunch of ancestries in the book, but tbh after galatic ancestries I've got total faith in the team to deliver exciting ancestries so I wouldn't mind getting those too!

I'm curious how others feel here. Would you rather get double classes to round out the system faster? Or would you rather we get more things for what we already have?

[Driftbourne]

It makes sense for Tech Core to get 2 Tech classes in one book, and tech-related ancestries. We don't know which book the Luminary will be in. What else we get will likely depend on the subject of that book. I do like older classes getting updates, but I think it needs to fit the subject of the book more than just doing it to do it.

I find it interesting that during your daily preparations for a Luminary, you can also assign specific roles to yourself and up to 10 specific allies. This could lead to each PC letting Liminary know what role they want. I love that his class encourages teamwork. So if the book with the Luminary, also has new features for other classes, I'd love to see those new features be things that help each class play into working with a Luminary, or be part of a music, theatrical performance, or sporting event.

Archetypes would be another way to let other classes gain performance skills or other abilities that play well wiht a Luminary.

New equipment that could help classes fit into a performance would be good too.

[BotBrain]

To be clear, I'm not just referring to this book. We're early on in SF2e's lifespan that there aren't any neglected options yet, because nothing has had the chance to be neglected, it's more a looking forward one.

But yeah otherwise, hard agree, using the extra space to provide more thematic options is also an exciting possibility.

[Perpdepog]

I'm also a fan of there only being one class here. Hopefully it'll lead to less fatigue and more focused survey information for the devs, and there being only one class does mean the earlier SF2 classes can hopefully get more love.

There's also the fact that Starfinder's got to, at least nominally, try to avoid stepping on Pathfinder's toes viz classes, and Pathfinder's already made a load of them. Outside of Starfinder Society I just don't see the same need for loads of classes to come out for SF2. Heck, if the Hell's Destiny Player's Guide is anything to go by, suggesting uses for the soldier, Starfinder Society may soon do the same and incorporate some of Pathfinder's classes.

[Squiggit]

I'm a little conflicted. I like the idea of focusing more on a single class for writing and space and feedback purposes but it does have the downside of really dragging out the time between releases. I think the Luminary is very cool, but I have a few friends who were really hoping for something that draws on some radically new design space and feel the Luminary too bard and envoy adjacent and now they know they won't be getting another shot at a SF class they like until late 2027 or 2028. Obviously that's always a potential problem, but the slower cadence from SF makes it more noticeable.

I also agree that PF has a problem of not revisiting old material, and I really hope SF changes tack in that regard... but I'm not sure it's fair to call it just a page count issue. There's plenty of room in the books to public more class options instead of some of the more out there archetypes or other stuff... I mean, the APG had four classes and a ton of new content for the original PF classes. It definitely feels like a conscious choice, which is why I think a single class book still might not be a guarantee we'll see more energy put into the core classes. Here's hoping though.

[Driftbourne]

Maybe by focusing on one class at a time, the time between new classes could be shorter. It's half the work of 2 classes, and the community is not split on trying out 2 classes at the same time. Most play tests, I pick the class I like most and just try that one.

SF1e was really good about class updates; some of the classes got updates in multiple books. Hopefully that continues in SF2e. But in general, Starfinder tends to do more ancestries than classes compared to PF2e. As much as I'd like to see the rest of the SF1e classes in SF2e, I think it's nice ot get something new first.

I suppose an In the Spotlight Envoy, a Bard, and a Music Platform have things in common. A Bard, Spotlight Envoy, and a Luminary would make for a great band. Why wouldn't a Bard and Spotlight Envoy not want to be in the Luminary's spotlight? But a Bard or a Luminary is nothing like my safety Inspector Envoy.

The Luminary was the class I was hoping for but hadn't thought of. For the next classes, I do hope we get some more science-focused ones. For a Compliative to really shine, I think we need an intelligence-based skill monkey class to fill that big brain.