While much of the attention on Paizo these days is news about the upcoming Pathfinder 2e Remaster Project, they have also been putting out early preview snippets from the upcoming Starfinder 2e. I say upcoming, but they have made it clear that actual playtest for this new edition won’t begin until August 2024, which makes sense as that will be after all four initial books in the PF2 Remaster are released.
Instead we have two of what Paizo refers to as Field Test documents: behind the scenes previews so that we can see the direction they are going, such as the inclusion of the Three Action Economy from PF2. These are short PDFs with only the first 5 levels of a class to show the foundation of where the classes are supposed to be going.
What We Know About Starfinder 2e So Far
Announced at Gen Con 2023, Starfinder 2e is a new edition of Paizo’s popular science fantasy system. Built on the same core rules as the remastered Pathfinder 2e, Starfinder promises to be fully compatible with PF2, allowing character options to function alongside each other in both systems. As with the remastered PF2, SF2 will be published under the ORC license as Paizo disentangles itself from the OGL.
The Starfinder 2e release is slated for 2024. We will have more coverage for Starfinder 2e both on RPGBOT.net and on the RPGBOT.podcast as the release approaches.
Soldier
In the first Field Test, we were introduced to the Soldier class of SF2, a hardy martial class specialized in heavy weaponry. Somewhat analogous to a PF2 Fighter and Champion, the Soldier inflicts the brand new Suppressed condition on foes which makes it harder for them to maneuver around and make attacks. Alongside the short class preview are a handful of the new types of weaponry that the Solder can use: Futuristic weapons with automatic lasers and high explosive yield area attacks.
Buried in the item section are the rules that set the new futuristic equipment apart from the pulp fantasy of PF2e. These new weapons have either the Tech or Analog traits, both of which prevent these future space weapons from utilizing the Runes of PF2. Instead, an Advanced Scattergun, for example, is a 4th-level item with stats equivalent to applying +1 Striking to the Commercial Scattergun. Instead of Property Runes, these Tech and Analog weapons will have Upgrades. To me this feels like a good solution to allow a major difference in feel between PF2 and SF2 despite their newfound compatibility.
Mystic
In the second Field Test, Paizo presented us with the Mystic, a spontaneous Wisdom caster with the option of Divine or Primal traditions and some interesting support options. The two big features that make the Mystic unique are the Mystic Bond and Vitality Network. The Bond gives the Mystic information about their bonded allies’ location and Conditions across any distance as well as allowing the use of other abilities. The Vitality Network is one such ability: a slowly regenerating pool of health that can be spent to heal creatures in your bond.
On the spellcasting side, this gives us a Wisdom-based spontaneous caster as well as a non-Sorcerer Primal Spontaneous option. I can see this class being used in a normal Pathfinder game with no issues aside from the flavorful technological names of some of the feats. Network Spell, for example, is a Metamagic (or Spellshape in the Remaster) feat that allows the Mystic to choose a bonded ally within 20 feet as the origin of a spell. Perfectly fine balance-wise for PF2, but some people might find names like Cloud Storage, Memory Bank, and Void Warranty jarring when playing in a mixed PF2/SF2 game.
My Thoughts
I’m pretty excited for Starfinder 2e. Soldier and Mystic both look to be pretty fun classes and they aren’t just Fighter and Cleric but in space. This is important to me because I’m looking at SF and PF as a combined system. These classes are just as much Pathfinder classes as they are Starfinder classes in my eyes.
Yes, there might be flavor considerations on the names of feats, but both of these classes would work just fine adventuring on original Golarion without any of that space tech equipment. I’m looking forward to seeing what else Paizo shows us in the lulls between PF2e Remaster posts and releases, and I hope that you will do the same.
