Paizocon is almost a week out now, and hopefully you’ve recovered. It will come as no surprise that I attended the Starfinder 2e panels with laser focus, and I’ve brought back notes and screenshots, so let’s get to it!
First thing – the move from Starfinder 1e to 2e was planned, but due to OGL shenanigans from last year, got moved up. Because of that, some projects in the 1e pipepline got sidelined. We’ll almost certainly see some, if not most of that content in 2e in one form or another, but it still makes me a bit sad. Specifically called out were a Starfinder Faction Guide (Hellknights, Xenowarders, and so on) and a Starfinder Extraplanar Archive (think Starfinder manual of the planes). Thurston did mention that there was an AP as well, but that is going to get reworked for 2e, so it isn’t really going away.
For the SF2E playtest, the Operative got a full reveal. No longer a ‘skill wizard’ and space rogue, the Operative in 2e is a single target damage dealer with a special ability called ‘Aim’ that lets them focus their attacks to greater effect. The updated Iseph is a sniper build, but they also called out gunner builds, pistols / gunkata, and even melee weapon options.
The other class to get a lot of chatter was the Witchwarper. The other caster class that looks to be a Core release, they combine elements of the SF1E Precog and Witchwarper into a lot of options. Mike described them as control/support/damage with a lot of tools at their disposal. They are Int based casters, and have both a paradox ala old witchwarpers, and anchors like old precogs.
Other SF2E / Playtest details – the playtest book will have 126 spells, including ones like Vibe Check, Carcinization, New Game+, Holographic Memory, Howl, Implant Data, Inject Nanobots, Injury, Echo, and Instant Virus. We also get Feats, Gear, and more. Confirmed Core races are Android, Barathu, Human, Kasatha, Lashunta, Shirren, Skittermander, Vesk, Ysoki, and Pahtra (including the adorable Sandcat ancestry), as well as two versatile heritages – Borai and Prismeni. Confirmed classes are Envoy, Operative, Mystic, Soldier, Solarian, and Witchwarper. Gear is tiered with set scaling using the CTASEUP acronym (commercial, tactical, advanced, s?, e?, u?, p?). Starship Combat and Mechs won’t be part of the launch, but are definitely getting added to the game.
The Playtest adventures are Cosmic Birthday (a 1st level adventure on Absalom Station tied to Aucturn giving birth to a new deity called The Newborn, written by Jenny Jarzabski), Empires Devoured (a higher level adventure in the Veskarium dealing with a nascent war between the Veskarium and the Azlanti Star Empire, written by Thurston Hillman), Shards of the Glass Planet (a 1st level adventure on a planet once in some kind of sequestering bubble, written by Jessica Catalan), It Came from the Vast (a level 5 adventure involving a strange visitor to the Pact Worlds), Wheel of Monsters (a level 10 adventure that puts the players in a deadly Zo! game show, written by Mike Kimmel), and Rescue at Shimmerstone Mine (a level 15 adventure in the Veskarium that likely revisits some locations from SFS past). There will be playtest pregens for 1st and 5th level for GenCon.
For setting and lore changes, while the Pact Worlds won’t experience major changes (except for Aucturn and the addition of Pulonis), there are going to be some significant shifts in the setting. For one, there is the war that breaks out between the Veskarium and the Azlanti Star Empire. From discussion around Empires Devoured it is hinted that changes within the Star Empire are likely the cause of this conflict, like the introduction of the Sihedron Guard. As part of that, it seems like the old Azlanti goddess Lissala is going to start playing a major role in Starfinder. The other change, of course, is that Drow are becoming Void Elves. How that changes them has yet to be revealed.
And that’s all of I’ve got from my notes and admittedly spotty memory. Expect more reveals in GenCon, and over the next year as SF1E gets to retire and make way for SF2E. Enjoy the rest of the fabulous art I grabbed!
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Jeremy Corff
Artist and Writer