How to play Starfinder

How to play

Build your character: Choose an ancestry, such as human, android, vesk or ysoki, then a background and a class. The Player Core has six classes: the envoy, a leader who gives allies directives; the mystic, a caster who heals through a bond with allies; the operative, a precise shooter who Aims; the solarian, a warrior of light and gravity; the soldier, who carries heavy armour and area weapons; and the witchwarper, who bends reality. Every attribute modifier starts at +0, and your ancestry, background, class and four free boosts adjust them. You have 150 credits for gear.

Checks and degrees of success: Roll a d20, add your modifier and compare the total with the DC, or with the target's AC for an attack. Meet it and you succeed. Beat it by 10 or more and you critically succeed; miss it by 10 or more and you critically fail. A natural 20 improves the result by one step and a natural 1 worsens it by one. If you're trained, expert, master or legendary, your proficiency bonus is your level plus 2, 4, 6 or 8.

Three actions a turn: A fight starts with everyone rolling initiative, usually with Perception. On your turn you have three actions and one reaction: Stride to move, Strike to attack, Interact to reload, Take Cover, or use a class action such as the operative's Aim. A second attack in the same turn takes −5 and any later attack −10, so a third shot is rarely your best choice. Some actions cost two.

Guns and area fire: A ranged weapon has a range increment, and you take −2 for each increment beyond the first. Each shot uses rounds or charges from the magazine, and reloading costs Interact actions. Area weapons fire with Area Fire, and automatic weapons can use Auto-Fire. Both cost two actions and need no attack roll: everyone in the area makes a basic Reflex save against your class DC plus the weapon's tracking bonus. Better weapon grades add damage dice and a bigger tracking bonus.

Hit Points and Hero Points: Your Hit Points come from your ancestry and class. At 0 Hit Points you're knocked out and dying 1, or dying 2 from a critical hit. You roll a recovery check each turn, and at dying 4 you die. After a fight, someone with a medkit can Treat Wounds, a 10-minute Medicine check that restores Hit Points. You start each session with 1 Hero Point and can hold up to 3: spend one to reroll a check, or spend them all to stop dying and stabilise at 0 Hit Points.

Starship scenes: In the GM Core, space battles and chases are cinematic scenes played in rounds. On your turn you take an open role aboard your ship, such as pilot, gunner, engineer, science officer, captain or magic officer, and use its special actions, most of which cost two of your three actions. Each scene sets a victory condition, like destroying an enemy ship or escaping an asteroid field. Tactical starship combat arrives with Starfinder Tech Core in October 2026.

Strategy

Plan all three actions: Your turn is a budget of three actions, and the best turns spend them on one plan. A third Strike at −10 seldom hits, so a strong turn is often two shots and Take Cover, or Aim, a shot and a reload. Work out your class's routine before the first fight. An envoy can open with Get 'Em, giving the whole party +1 to hit one enemy. An operative Aims at a mark for extra precision damage. A soldier spends two actions on Area Fire or Auto-Fire and the third on moving or taking cover. Fight from cover: Starfinder fights are firefights. Standard cover adds +2 to your AC and to Reflex saves against area attacks, and Taking Cover behind it raises that to +4 until you move or attack. Stay within your weapon's first range increment where you can, because every increment beyond it costs −2 to hit. Choose between attacks and saves: Area Fire and Auto-Fire skip the attack roll and force a basic Reflex save against your class DC, so they suit groups of foes and targets that are hard to hit but slow to dodge. They still count as attacks for the multiple attack penalty, and they drain ammunition: Auto-Fire spends two rounds or charges for every creature in the cone. Keep your allies out of your cones and bursts. Play to your class: Each class does one job well. Soldiers soak damage and suppress enemies, leaving them −1 to attack and 10 feet slower. Operatives deal precise ranged damage, envoys make everyone else better, mystics heal through their bond with allies, solarians hold the front line, and witchwarpers reshape the fight with a quantum field. Say what your third action is doing so the table can build on it. Starship scenes reward roles: Before a cinematic starship scene, note your best skills and take the role that uses them, such as pilot for Piloting or science officer for Computers. You can switch roles between rounds, so move to whichever station the scene needs, and use your spare action to Aid a crewmate. Chase the victory condition rather than just shooting. Look after the team: Make sure someone is trained in Medicine and carries a medkit, because Treat Wounds is how most parties recover between fights. Keep at least one Hero Point for the moment a character would die.

Tips

- A third attack takes −10, so Take Cover, reload, Aim or reposition instead. - Taking Cover behind standard cover gives +4 to AC until you move or attack. - Stay inside your weapon's first range increment; each increment beyond it costs −2 to hit. - Watch your magazine: Auto-Fire spends two rounds or charges for every creature in the cone. - Envoys, open with Get 'Em so the whole party gets +1 to hit one enemy. - Carry a medkit and train someone in Medicine; each patient can be treated with Treat Wounds once an hour. - Keep a Hero Point spare: spending all you have when you would die stabilises you at 0 Hit Points. - If you play Pathfinder Second Edition, you already know the engine; the new parts are guns, area weapons and the Starfinder classes.

Players and time

A GM and usually four players, which is the party size the GM Core assumes; smaller and larger groups work with adjusted encounters. Sessions usually last a few hours. Adventure Paths such as Guilt of the Grave World (2025) and Secrets of the Swarm (2026) run over many sessions, while one-shots and Society scenarios are built for a single session.

Starfinder Society

Paizo's organised play campaign moved to Second Edition alongside the Player Core in 2025. You bring one character to standalone scenarios at game stores, conventions or online, and that character keeps its rewards from table to table. It's an easy way to find a group and learn the rules with a ready-made adventure.

Second Edition

Second Edition replaced the 2017 rules in 2025. It rebuilds Starfinder on the Pathfinder Second Edition engine and is fully compatible with it. Stamina Points, Resolve Points, themes and the split between EAC and KAC are gone: characters now have Hit Points, Hero Points, a background and a single AC. The core books are Player Core, GM Core and Alien Core, all from 2025. Galactic Ancestries (2026) adds more ancestries, and a Second Edition Beginner Box (2026) is the gentlest way in. Starfinder Tech Core, due on 7 October 2026, adds the mechanic and technomancer classes and tactical starship combat.

Common beginner mistake

Standing in the open and firing three times every turn. The third attack takes −10 and rarely hits, while Take Cover, a reload or a move to a better angle keeps you alive and ready for next turn. Starfinder rewards spending all three actions on one plan, not just on shooting.