Starfinder Society Guide to Organized Play

Single Page Layout

SFS Guide Version 7.02
30 July 2024

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Introduction

The Guide is the home for campaign rules specific to the Starfinder Society (SFS) organized play campaign. The Guide is available in the form of this website or as a single page. To print or get a PDF of the Guide, follow the link.

Both active Guides have the same structure following the reorganization of the Pathfinder Society Guide. The Guides each have the following sections:

• Core Guide: the rules everyone needs for PFS Organized Play
• Player Options and Tools: additional rules players can choose to use
• GM Options and Tools: additional rules GMs can choose to use
• Supplemental Materials: reference materials, including lists of current and retired Boons

Resources

• Pregenerated Characters

• Welcome to SFS Boon

• Character Options allowed for Starfinder Society play

• FAQ / Errata updates and revisions to Starfinder rulebooks

• Organized Play regions
  • contact a Regional Venture-Coordinator (RVC) for help finding games and more

Quick Links

• Single-page Guide
• Print or get a PDF

• Character Creation
• Supplemental Materials (boons, retired options, etc.)

• Completing Chronicles (for GMs post-adventure)

Recent changes

full change log

• 30 July 2024 — v7.02
  • Core Guide:
    • Renamed Guide to official title: Guide to Organized Play: Starfinder Society - First Edition
    • Key Terms: Added "What are Achievement Points (AcP)?" section
    • Filling Out a Chronicle: Added reminder PCs with uncleared permanent afflictions are reported as dead & retired from play
    • Dealing With Interruptions: Revised & clarified
  • Player Options and Tools: Clarified credit for Boon checkboxes for mid-sized adventures
  • Supplemental Materials: expanded and re-organized

• 4 June 2024 — v7.01
  • Core Guide:
    • Special Cases: Re-added and clarified text on partial credit when players leave a game
  • Supplemental Materials
    • Achievement Points Boon List: Added newly announced Boons (Finitrium Augmentations & First Ones Scholar)

Campaign Rules Outside the Guide

• Starfinder rules online - Free and officially licensed

• Starfinder FAQ & Errata - Clarifications and changes to published books

• Starfinder Society Character Options - What options from each book you can use & which books you need to own to use them

• Starfinder Society FAQ - Clarifications and rulings for the Starfinder Society campaign

• Paizo Organized Play policies - Community standards, event & retail support, playtesting

• Paizo Organized Play Accessory Perks & Promotional Boons - Small bonuses for related merch

See you in the Pact Worlds & beyond! Explore, Report, Cooperate!

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Core Guide

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Player Options

My Organized Play

Every registered Organized Play participant has a record on paizo.com . You can access this information by direct link or by visiting paizo.com , hovering/clicking on the My Account at the top right of the screen, then selecting Organized Play. There are several tabs on your account page:

• Summary: A list of your GM rankings, all registered characters, and character Reputation totals. You can create new characters by selecting the desired type at the bottom of the screen.
• Sessions: A chronological list of all your games, which you can sort using the criteria on the left.
• GM/Event Coordinator: A list of points you have earned (such as AcP and GM table credits), a list of events you are coordinating, and a button to create new events.
• Boons: A list of all currently available boons in each program. See the Player Rewards section below for rules on Boons.

If you find an error in your session list, send an email to orgplayreportingerrors@paizo.com with details and any supporting documentation you have for the correct data.

Player Rewards

In addition to adventure rewards, players can also choose to use Boons, Factions, and the Retail Incentive Program.

Boons

Boons are small in-game rewards distributed for a variety of reasons, including playing certain adventures, attending events, and supporting charities. Boons must be stored or recorded alongside your adventure Chronicles and presented to GMs on request.

Achievement Point, Chronicle, and Game Reward Boons can be found on the Boons tab of your My Organized Play page. A list of purchased Boons appears at the bottom of the page, where each boon has a link to download a PDF copy with the text of the Boon.

The supplemental materials to this Guide include a list of Achievement Point Boons (coming soon) and retired Boons. Unless otherwise stated, Boons that are no longer available for purchase ("retired") can still be used in play.

Boons have no cash value. You cannot sell a Boon to another player.

You can only apply one copy of any Boon to a character unless the Boon states otherwise.

By contrast, as a player you can earn more than one copy of some Boons. The following rules are the default for how many copies of a Boon a player can earn:

• Chronicle Boons are earned by completing adventures. You can earn up to two copies of each Chronicle Boon, one as a player and one as a GM. You can use Replays to earn additional Chronicle Boons.
• AcP Boons are bought with Achievement Points (AcP). Unless otherwise specified, you can buy as many copies of AcP Boons you qualify for as you can afford.
• All other boons limit you to one copy each.

As usual, specific rules override general rules, so the text of an individual Boon takes precedence over the default rules above.

Types of boons include:

• Achievement Point Boons: Players earn Achievement Points (AcP) by participating in and reporting Starfinder Society games. AcP can be used online to purchase Boons.
• Chronicle Boons: Some adventures award an additional Boon. Once the game has been reported on paizo.com, players and GMs can download the Boon from the Boons tab of your My Organized Play page and apply it to the character that received credit for the adventure.
• Convention Boons: A player can acquire a convention Boon from participating in a convention supported by Paizo. You can’t assign multiple copies of a convention Boon to the same character. If the only difference in the Chronicle Sheet is the title of the convention or event listed at the top, it is the same Boon.
• Discount Boons: Some Boons provide a discount on purchases. Unless otherwise noted, only one Boon that provides any discount can be applied to any one purchase. This prevents multiple discounts from reducing the cost by an unreasonable amount.
• Fame Boons: Fame was a currency earned during Years 1-3 which has since been replaced with Achievement Points (AcP). Boons can no longer be purchased with Fame, but boons purchased with Fame before January 1, 2022, remain valid. A small number of Boons were retired instead of being converted to AcP boons; they are reproduced in Retired Rewards for reference.
• Game Reward Boons: Certain in game accomplishments (such as reaching a certain level of Reputation with a Faction) grant a reward. Games must be reported on Paizo’s website to meet these requirements. Once a character has met the requirement, the Boon can be assigned and downloaded from the player’s Boons tab.
• Species Access Boons: There are many species in Starfinder that can be accessed via special boons. Many of these boons can be earned by spending AcP. This includes System Traveler boons, which allow a player to spend AcP from one game system to access new species in another. For example, a player could spend Pathfinder Society (2e) AcP to access certain species for Starfinder Society play.
• Welcome Boon: A player may apply the Welcome to Starfinder Boon to their first character (XXXX–701). This Boon is available for download from this Guide.

Boon Slots

To ease player record-keeping burdens, the Starfinder Society uses the Boon slot system. Each Boon slot represents an available space in which a player can place one of their earned Boons; A PC can apply only one of their Boons per Boon slot.

if you’ve slotted a Boon, it’s active for that adventure, and if you didn’t slot one of your Boons, it’s dormant. Every Starfinder Society character has five Boon slots, each of which corresponds to a different type of Boon.

Most Boons include a corresponding Boon type, so you can slot a Social Boon into your Social Boon slot, but not into your Ally Boon slot. This means that aside from slotless Boons, you will handle only up to five Boons during a session—and do not need to sort through stacks of paper in the middle of the game.

Shortly after beginning a scenario, the GM will call for the players to slot their Boons. This typically occurs following the mission briefing, giving the players some information about which Boons might be relevant to the Scenario. In some cases, the GM will actively advise the players of pertinent Boons they may have earned on Chronicles from previous Scenarios.

Slotless boons do not take up any of your character’s slots; they are always active. There is no limit on how many slotless Boons you can have active.

Some slotless Boons are tagged as “limited-use.” These Boons grant a benefit a limited number of times, either once per Boon or a limited number of uses indicated by a series of checkboxes. In most cases, you do not need to continue keeping track of a limited-use Boon once it has been expended. Rarely, a limited-use Boon may include additional or altered rules in the description of the individual Boon.

A pregenerated character has Boon slots, though such characters rarely have Boons to use in these slots. If a pregenerated character does have Boons, such as Promotional Boons or temporary Boons granted by the adventure, they can slot them as normal.

Boon Slot List

Ally: These Boons typically represent an ally actively assisting the PC. This could be a hired ammo loader, a dodgy hacker, or a knightly squire from the Hellknights or Knights of Golarion.

Personal: Personal Boons represent a wide variety of special Boons available in the campaign. Uncommon playable species, typically those found outside the Starfinder Core Rulebook, are often accessed by Boons that occupy this slot. The Personal slot often requires associated Boons (such as new species options) to be permanently slotted, so that the slotted boon does not change on a scenario-by-scenario basis.

Promotional: Promotional Boons are unique in that they often represent out-of-game acquisitions that promote Starfinder or Starfinder Society and translate to in-game benefits. For a complete list of current Promotional Boons and associated requirements, see the Paizo Organized Play Perks page.

Social: These Boons often encompass agreements or alliances with in-game organizations or NPCs. The benefits of these arrangements often come in the form of a Boon granted by a Chronicle.

Starship: Starfinder Society Scenarios call out the inclusion of starship combat with the Starship Scenario tag. Starship Boons are most relevant to these Scenarios, allowing for the customization of the standard ships offered by the Starfinder Society organization. See the Starships section for more information on these Boons and customizing ships.

New Character Boons

Some Boons must be applied to new characters. Such Boons must be assigned to a particular character when received but may be held and applied later during character building or rebuilding.

Such Boons are applied in the following order:

1. Any Boon that specifies it must be the first Boon applied.
   If you can apply multiple such Boons, you can choose the order in which they are applied, provided that all such Boons are applied before any other Boons.
2. Any Boon that specifies it must be applied to a character with 0 XP.
   If you can apply multiple such Boons, you can choose the order in which they are applied, provided that all such Boons are applied before the character gains any XP.
3. Other Boons are then applied as normal.

You may use the normal level 1 character rebuild rules with the rules above.

Boons That Unlock Over Time

Some Boons allow players to unlock access to character options over time by checking boxes after meeting the criteria. The following additional rules apply to such Boons:

• Adventure Completion Boons: These are Boons that allow you to check one or more boxes after completing any adventure. After completing a given adventure, you can check off the relevant number of boxes on any one of these boons. Note the boon affected on the Chronicle for the adventure.
• Adventure-specific Boons: These are Boons which allow you to check off a box after completing a specific adventure. These boxes can always be checked when that adventure is completed, even if using that adventure completion to check off boxes on other Boons.
• Income-donation Boons: These Boons require the PC to donate a portion of their income. After completing an adventure, you can check off boxes on any number of Boons that require you to donate a portion of your income, provided you can afford to donate that amount. Any Boons that require a percentage donated are calculated as a percentage of total income (including Day Job, if any), not as a percentage of what remains after earlier donations.
• Downtime-donation Boons: These Boons require the PC to give up their downtime or their Day Job roll. PCs can check boxes on only one of these Boons per adventure.

For the purpose of checking off boxes on the Boons above, treat adventures that grant more than 1 XP as Adventure Path volumes.

Factions and Reputation

Factions

Factions have existed within the Starfinder Society since the organization’s inception. Each Faction supports its agents working within the Starfinder Society. All Society agents know that their allegiance is first to the Starfinder Society, followed by any Faction allegiances they maintain. In fact, most Factions within the Starfinder Society actively cooperate despite their differing goals.

Note: Each Faction's name below links to a page with additional details, including current faction leader and goals.

Acquisitives: "Fame, glory, and money. We want it all."
Members of the Acquisitives seek to increase their personal fame and fortune through working with the Starfinder Society and building its prestige.

Advocates: "We're here for you!"
The Advocates aim to heal the widening rifts between factions, unite the squabbling Starfinder agents into an accepting, loving, and supportive community, and encourage the Starfinder Society to do good throughout the Pact Worlds and beyond.

Cognates: "Diversity in knowledge, unity in purpose."
The Cognates aim to reduce the Starfinder Society’s dangerous over-reliance on technology, including Guidance, and refocus instead on magical and natural innovations, along with analog and other low-tech solutions.

Dataphiles: "Knowledge is power."
If information is power, the Dataphiles seek to become the most powerful faction within the Starfinder Society. The Dataphiles believe in curating all data (both digital and physical) and that they alone are worthy of deciding what is fit for public consumption.

Exo-Guardians: "The sword that seeks the darkness."
The Exo-Guardians are dedicated to protecting the Pact Worlds from external threats. Their members campaign in Near Space and the Vast to amass equipment, knowledge, and magic believed to be essential in protecting the Pact Worlds.

Manifold Host: "We who welcome all."
Functioning as recruitment officers and an enthusiastic welcoming committee, members of the Manifold Host are dedicated to inducting new species into the Starfinder Society in the belief that each alien species can contribute their own new and unique skills to the benefit of all. Additionally, they welcome new agents of all kinds and aid them in acclimating to the Society’s operations.

Second Seekers: "The past looms large" - Sarmak
The Second Seekers are an informal faction dedicated to pursuing the agenda of the Society’s current leader, the First Seeker. The current First Seeker, Sarmak, has dedicated his tenure to archeological exploration of ancient civilizations with advanced technology or megastructures, beginning with expeditions to Eternity, a city on Aballon left by the First Ones.

Wayfinders: "First into the unknown."
Named for an old relic of bygone explorers, the Wayfinders seek to explore space and create peaceful relationships with new species. Members of the Wayfinders often act as first contact ambassadors, as well as explorers to the absolute frontiers of known space.

Other Factions

There are innumerable entities and organizations in the galaxy, and some represent unique factions who are not currently influential in the Starfinder Society. During the course of play, it is possible for a character to receive an offer to join one of these factions. Other factions currently in circulation include the Second Seekers factions associated with former First Seekers Roheas, Jadnura, Luwazi Elsebo, and Ehu Hadif.

Reputation Tiers

As a PC earns Reputation associated with a faction, they unlock additional benefits and access to more Boons.

A PC’s overall standing is represented by their Reputation Tier. There are five Reputation Tiers numbered 0 through 4, with a Reputation Tier of 0 representing no advancement within a faction, and a Reputation Tier of 4 representing the height of prestige within a faction. A Reputation Tier of 0 is not a valid Reputation Tier to collect the rewards from Boons based on Reputation Tier.

To reach a particular Reputation Tier, a character must earn the corresponding amount of Reputation in the table below:

Reputation Tier Thresholds

All Factions Reputation

To calculate your current Reputation Tier for the purpose of all-factions Boons, add up your total Reputation from all factions.

Retail Incentive Program

The Retail Incentive Program (RIP) rewards players with benefits for their characters when they patronize retailers who provide space for Organized Play activities. Purchases made at the location within a stated time period are added together by table and unlock benefits at different levels for the next game played, including some that reduce the severity of failures. Implementation methods vary from store to store and are posted for attendees to review. For more information, read the full policy and consult your Event Organizer for details.

Group Purchases

Players are permitted to pool their money to purchase items or spellcasting services for use in the current adventure. If the PCs buy an item using pooled money that they do not use during the adventure, one PC may purchase the item at the end of the adventure, paying the item’s full cost. If no PC wants to purchase the item, the PCs must sell the item back for 10% value, reimbursing each PC 10% of what they paid into the pool.

Retraining Characters (Level 2+)

Once you begin a session as a second level character, you still have multiple options for changing your character’s choices. You cannot use Rebuilding (for level 1 characters) or Retraining to build a character that could not be built without using either of those two tools.

Mnemonic Editor: The mnemonic editor hybrid item (Starfinder Core Rulebook page 226 ) allows characters to reverse the last 2 levels worth of decisions on a character. Different versions of the device allow you to retrain up to three additional times, effectively allowing a character to clear and retrain up to 8 levels worth of decisions throughout their career. For more information on purchasing a mnemonic editor, see the corresponding Boon.

Training Montage: The Training Montage and Extended Training Montage boons allow characters to clear and retrain character decisions from all levels. Training Montage is for characters with 12 or fewer XP; Extended Training Montage is for characters with 13 or more XP. For more information on purchasing a Training Montage, see the boon text .

Alternate Downtime Options

Downtime Crafting

You can spend your Downtime to craft a single item following the rules in the Starfinder Core Rulebook (page 235 ). A character must use the skills listed in this section of the book and cannot use the Profession skill to craft equipment. It is assumed that between adventures, you have access to the tools and workshop necessary to craft equipment.

To craft an item, you must acquire the requisite number of UPBs. You can purchase UPBs at a rate of 1 UPB for every 1 credit spent. You cannot scavenge parts from equipment you own or collect during a Scenario. Equipment crafted between sessions is marked on the Chronicle Sheet.

If you have the Master Crafter feat, you receive a 5% discount on crafting if the crafted item is crafted using the Master Crafter feat’s associated skill. You may still craft only a single item during a single Downtime period.

Other Downtime Pursuits

Some Boons allow you to use Downtime in other ways. These Boons will provide exact rules on their use, but often require a character to sacrifice the opportunity to attempt a Day Job check or perform any crafting.

Playtest Rules

These are the general rules for Starfinder Society Playtests. See each playtest announcement for any rules specific to that playtest.

Playtest Period

Each playtest runs for a specified period. Once this period has expired, players can no longer use the options being playtested until their publication in a future Paizo product.

Playtest Characters

Playtest options can be accessed by creating a custom character using the rules presented in the playtest document. This character functions as a pregenerated character.

Creating a playtest character: Depending on the level range of the adventure, the player can use a 1st-, 4th-, or 8th-level character created using the eligible playtest options and the following guidelines:

Class: The character can only take levels in a single class being actively playtested. Although multiclassing ramifications are important for playtests as a whole, the Organized Play portions of playtests use single classes for simplicity.

• 1st Level: The character can be made using the character creation rules in the Character Creation section.
• 4th Level: This character follows the same rules as above, except that instead of the starting 1,000 credits, they can select one 4th-level armor or weapon and one 3rd-level armor or weapon. In addition, the player can spend up to 4,000 credits on other available equipment.
• 8th Level: This character follows the same rules as above, except that instead of the starting 1,000 credits, they can select one 8th-level armor or weapon and one 7th-level armor or weapon. In addition, the player can spend up to 18,000 credits on other available equipment.

Credit: Choose which of your characters will receive the credit at the beginning of the adventure. Chronicles earned for playing a playtest character follow the same rules as for Chronicles earned by playing a pregenerated character.

To encourage play of higher-level characters in playtest classes, the rules for applying credit when playing a playtest character are more open. A player using a non-1st-level playtest character may choose to apply the earned Chronicle to an existing Organized Play character immediately. To do so, simply replace the credits earned on the Chronicle with credits from the table below that match the level range of the existing player character.

This follows all the other rules for applying a Chronicle early.

Boons and Other Character Options: For the playtest character to take a character option that would normally require a Boon, the playtest character must have all of their credit assigned to a character that has access to that character option.

GM Opt In

Because playtests use additional rules that some GMs might not be comfortable with, each GM must opt-in for playtest characters to be used at their tables. Please consult your GM prior to the game!

Current and Past Playtests

This list contains all previous playtests. Make sure to check the dates to see if a playtest is still ongoing.

Evolutionist Playtest

August 2 to September 24, 2021
This playtest included the evolutionist class, published in Interstellar Species .

Precog Playtest

November 16 to December 25, 2020
This playtest included the precog class, published in Galactic Magic .

Tech Revolution Playtest

July 27 to September 18th, 2020
This playtest included the nanocyte class and mech rules , both published in Tech Revolution .

Character Operations Manual Playtest

December 3, 2018 to January 16, 2019
This playtest included the three classes in the Character Operations Manual : biohacker, vanguard, and witchwarper.

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GM Options

GM Rewards

The Starfinder Society rewards GMs for volunteering their time to run events. See the GM Chronicles section for additional rules and benefits of GM Chronicles. GMs also receive rewards based on the number of adventures they have run and reported.

GM Achievement Points

GMs receive Achievement Points (AcP) every time they run an adventure, whether it is repeatable or not. In addition, they receive double the AcP they would have received for playing that adventure.

GM Table Credits

GMs receive “table credits” for every table they run and report. These credits determine how many Novas a GM has. Each Scenario earns 1 table credit. Each Adventure Path volume earns 2 table credits.

GM Novas

The Starfinder Society offers a GM rank system that uses Novas to represent the activity and experience of a given GM. The novas are visible on the GM's Organized Play ID card. A GM can earn up to five Novas. Earning Novas 1-4 requires a certain number of table credits; earning a 5th Nova has additional requirements. The total number of table credits for each Nova is as follows:

GMs receive the following rewards based on the number of GM novas they have earned:

• For each Nova earned, GMs can apply a +1 bonus to all rerolls gained via Boons.
• For each Nova earned, GMs receive one additional Granted Replay each January 1.
• GMs with 4 or 5 Novas may be able to run exclusive or limited release content.

Fifth Nova Additional Requirements

A GM must accomplish the following to qualify for their fifth Nova:

• Earn 150 GM table credits.
• Run 50 different adventures.
• Run 10 or more adventures from the 5 Nova Qualifying Adventures list (below). Except for multi-table interactives, a particular scenario can earn credit for a maximum of 3 of those 10.
• Complete 3 evaluation games, each in the presence of a different Qualified Evaluator (a Venture-Captain, Regional Venture-Coordinator, or Paizo Organized Play staffer) using the Organized Play rubric.

If no Qualified Evaluator is willing or able to evaluate a GM due to unreasonable travel requirements or similar reasons, the GM can contact their Regional Venture-Coordinator. In such cases, their RVC can designate a 5-Nova GM, a Venture-Lieutenant, or other trusted community member as a Qualified Evaluator for that GM.

5-Nova Qualifying Adventures:

• All multi-table interactive specials
• Scenario #1-98: Into the Perplexity: The First Trial

• Scenario #2-24: Cornered Rat
• Scenario #3-20: Fleeting Truth: Everchanging Revelation
• Scenario #4-09: Through Sea and Storm

• Scenario #5-04: Fragment of the Fourth
• Scenario #5-10: Shadow of the Vault Lord
• Scenario #5-15: Beta Test

• Scenario #6-04: Secrets Long Submerged
• Scenario #6-10: The Death of Kortus IV
• Scenario #6-15: Extraction from Azlanti Space

Organized Play Rubric

To fully experience the benefits of peer review and feedback, we recommend the following observation schedule:

• 0–10 GM table credits: You are starting your GM adventure. Thank you for GMing!
• 11–49 GM table credits: Use the rubric to get a feel for Organized Play best practices. Consider having a fellow GM sit at your table and give feedback.
• 50–99 GM table credits: Ask any Venture-Officers at your tables to do a rubric evaluation to give feedback as if it were an evaluation game.
• 100+ GM table credits: Receive 3 formal evaluations from 3 different Qualified Evaluators.

GMs need a better than average score to pass an evaluation. For example, they could have one criterion rated "exceeds expectations" and the rest "meets expectations" and qualify. They could also have one rated "does not meet expectations," two "meets expectations," and two "exceeds expectations" and qualify.

A GM cannot complete more than three evaluations in a weekend. A GM that fails to meet the criteria can wait three months and try again.

Reviewing Chronicles

If time permits, GMs and Event Organizers can spend a few minutes reviewing players’ Organized Play records at the start of an event slot. These reviews can happen for a variety of reasons. For example, you might need to learn what a character did in previous adventures, or you might want to verify the records' accuracy.

When you are looking over the players' records, if you notice anything that seems amiss, you can ask the player to explain any potential errors. Remember that errors are far more likely to be honest mistakes than intentional cheating—and that it is possible that they are not errors at all. When you ask the player about a potential error, speak with the player calmly, nicely, and with an open mind. The player might have simply made a mistake—or you might have made a mistake in your understanding of their records.

Remember that the game is supposed to be fun, so waste as little time as possible on drama and spend as much time as possible providing an exciting, action-packed adventure for your players.

Resolve any issues as fairly as possible. For example, if the character selected an option that they did not have Access to, let them pick another option to replace it; if they paid a discounted price for an item in error, let them pay the additional costs to meet the full purchase price; and so on. If you believe a player is cheating, ask your Event Organizer for assistance. If you are both the Event Organizer and the GM, use your discretion on how to proceed.

Additional Adventures

In addition to the adventures written for Starfinder Society, some other Paizo adventures have been sanctioned (approved) for Organized Play credit. Since these adventures are published for a wider audience than the Starfinder Society campaign, there is typically a downloadable sanctioning document with Chronicles and any special considerations for Organized Play.

Sanctioned Adventures

• Starfinder Adventure Paths : Multi-volume campaigns that take dozens of game sessions to complete. Many Adventure Paths are sanctioned for use in the Starfinder Society campaign.

• Starfinder Adventures : Stand-alone adventure books that take one or more sessions to complete. Many Adventures are sanctioned for use in the Starfinder Society campaign.

• Starfinder Bounties : Short one-hour adventures aimed at introducing new players to the game or representing what characters do between Starfinder missions. Bounties are sanctioned for use in the Starfinder Society campaign.
  • As sanctioned adventures, all Starfinder Bounties are repeatable.
  • As sanctioned adventures, bounties do not grant Downtime.

Modes of Play

The Society rules of play are customized to work with Starfinder Scenarios and Bounties and are not necessarily applicable to other sanctioned adventures. Adventures run using normal rules are referred to as “Society Mode” in the rest of this document.

“Adventure Mode” is used for adventures not specifically designed for Society play. This mode allows the GM more freedom to adapt those adventures, including running the adventure in Starfinder using GM house rules and the ability to alter encounters and statistics found in the adventure.

Character Types

Most Adventure Mode sanctioned products can be played with any character; some products include pregens, and players are encouraged to play those characters for an optimal experience.

Any adventure that can be played with a SFS character can also be played with a SFS-sanctioned pregen. When playing an adventure using a SFS character, the Chronicle must be assigned to that character.

Story Pregens are characters released with an adventure. They often contain ties to the adventure's backstory.

Campaign Characters are characters that are designed according to the GM's house rules.

Ruleset (Mode) / Characters by product:

*To provide the same level of experience, we strongly recommend that GMs who chose to use Campaign Characters work with their players to tie those characters into the adventure backstory.

Sanctioning Documents

Each sanctioned adventure comes with a freely downloadable sanctioning document located on the product’s description page on paizo.com. This document contains the rules for running that adventure, as well as Chronicle Sheets awarded for completion.

Read the sanctioning document carefully, as it might modify the adventure's rewards. Specific information in a particular sanctioning document always takes precedence over the general information presented in this Guide.

Unlike Starfinder Society adventures, Chronicles for sanctioned adventures are assigned at the completion of the adventure.

A group can complete an adventure when it is not sanctioned. If it later becomes sanctioned, the GM is allowed and encouraged to issue Chronicles to all interested players. These Chronicles are applied as if the group had completed the adventure on the date the Chronicle is issued. Such Chronicles must have an accurate issue date (that is, they cannot be backdated) and cannot be applied such that they retroactively affect other Chronicles.

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Starships

Starship combat is an integral part of the Starfinder Roleplaying Game and is included in some adventures. As noted in this Guide, certain Scenarios have the Starship tag, indicating that the associated Scenario includes one or more starship combat encounters. This appendix details guidelines and information for starship combat encounters, used along with the rules in the Starfinder Core Rulebook.

Starship Combat Overview

The Starfinder Roleplaying Game contains a robust system for starship creation and customization, which while intuitive for home campaigns, is difficult to manage in an Organized Play environment. As starships are essentially another character shared between a party, it would be extremely time consuming for a group of players to decide on exactly how to customize a starship prior to a Scenario. To facilitate ease of play, the Starfinder Society provides characters with common starship variants, accessible in any Scenario involving starship combat.

Starship Choice: Starship choice occurs immediately prior to slotting Boons for the Scenario. During this period, the PCs can also decide on any Starship Boons they wish to utilize (more on this below). Ideally, players will reach consensus on which starship will best suit their style of play and the specific mission. If players cannot agree on which ship to take, Scenarios suggest a starship and the GM can declare the party will use that ship.

When choosing a starship, the PCs always receive the version of the ship with a tier equal to the highest level of their level range. For example, a party playing in level range 1-2 receives a tier 2 ship, while a party playing in level range 5–6 receives a tier 6 ship.

Common Starships: The Azata, Drake, and Pegasus models of starship are the most commonly employed ships in the modern Starfinder Society. This Guide includes stat blocks of each at tiers 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12. Versions at higher tiers exist, but they are included within a Scenario when appropriate. With the exception of the Gorgon, ships presented in this guide are always available to PCs; the Gorgon is accessible only with the Starship Schematic boon, a Tier 4 Exo-Guardians Faction reward.

New Starships: Throughout the course of a character’s career, they may come into possession of a new starship to use in the Starfinder Society campaign. Often, these starships will be a reward from an important Scenario, gained from a promotional Chronicle Sheet, or featured temporarily in an adventure. Unlike the common starships presented in this Guide, new starships will have all the rules for using them in starship combat scenarios listed on their respective information sheets.

Starfinder Society Starships

Pegasus (Explorer Frame Variant)

The Pegasus emphasizes speed and provides a suite of supportive options. It is less armed than the Drake but employs improved sensors and a host of ready expansion bays; in turn, its sensors are less advanced than the Azata but it has more firepower. This makes the Pegasus ideal for missions where starship support and combat capabilities are likely to be equally as valuable.

Drake (Transport Frame Variant)

When a problem can be solved through the liberal application of missiles, the Drake stands ready. This workhorse starship proves the Starfinder Society can bring impressive combat presence to a space battle. It sacrifices scanning capabilities and the built-in expansion bays of the Pegasus, making it less enticing to support landing parties or extended operations; the Azata outpaces both the Drake and the Pegasus in longevity and scanning.

Azata (Explorer Frame Variant)

The Azata is the first of a new generation of spacecraft designed to modernize the Starfinder Society fleet and support First Seeker Ehu Hadif's renewed focus on exploration and expanding the Society's presence in the Vast. It is designed to support long-range travel, withstand hazardous environments, and be well-equipped for the rigors of deep-space exploration. It features the best scanners and science assets of the common Starfinder ships, though it is the least heavily-armed.

Gorgon (Destroyer Frame Variant)*

The Gorgon represents a new class of starship pressed into service by the Exo-Guardians faction and intended to handle high-level threats. Unlike the Society’s other standard starship designs, the Gorgon sacrifices amenities and scientific equipment in exchange for raw firepower. These ships thrive in battle or situations where force of arms is more important than other considerations.
* Selecting the Gorgon requires the Starship Schematic Boon.

Starship Boon Slot

Following the selection of a starship, a character can select a Boon for their Starship Boon slot. This Boon slot typically includes Boons that act as abilities, modifications, or replacements for starships. Each Starship Boon indicates the specific rules in applying it, often citing specific starships or tiers to which the Boon can be applied. For ease of play, players do not need to concern themselves with the build points, power core units (PCU), or available expansion bays of a shared starship.

Unless otherwise stated, multiple versions of the same Starship Boon do not stack.

Starship Statblocks

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Change Log

Version 7

7.01 -> 7.02 - 30 July 2024

• Introduction:
  • Added outline of Guide organization; PFS2 now has the same structure

• Core Guide:
  • Renamed Guide to official title: Guide to Organized Play: Starfinder Society - First Edition
  • Welcome
    • Key Terms: Added "What are Achievement Points (AcP)?" section
  • Being a Game Master
    • Filling Out a Chronicle: Added reminder PCs with uncleared permanent afflictions are reported as dead & retired from play
    • GM Chronicles: Added note to leave GM character number blank when reporting when GM is not taking a Chronicle; other minor adjustments
  • Special Cases
    • Campaign Leadership: Updated Thurston Hillman's title
    • Dealing With Interruptions: Revised & clarified

• Player Options and Tools:
  • Boons That Unlock Over Time: Clarified credit for Boon checkboxes for adventures longer than an SFS Scenario

• Supplemental Materials:
  • Main page: added documents/links, reorganized to align with PFS2 Guide

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7.00 -> 7.01 - 4 June 2024

• Core Guide:
  • Special Cases: Re-added and clarified text on partial credit when players leave a game

• Supplemental Materials:
  • Achievement Points Boon List: Added newly announced Boons (Finitrium Augmentations & First Ones Scholar)

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6.03 -> 7.00 - 20 May 2024

• Core Guide:
  • Character Creation: added new always available playable species: barathu, borai, ghibrani, morlamaw, and prismeni

• Player Options and Tools:
  • Factions: updated Second Seekers Faction information for new First Seeker Sarmak

• Minor Changes for clarity, system neutrality, etc.:
  • Core Guide: Welcome to Starfinder Society, Key Terms, Character Creation, About Adventures, Before the Adventure, Replaying Adventures, During the Adventure, After the Adventure, Special Cases
  • Player Options and Tools: Player Rewards, Playtest Rules
  • GM Options and Tools: GM Rewards, GM Table Credits

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Version 6

6.02 -> 6.03 - 10 May 2024

• Core Guide:
  • Purchasing Guidelines: rephrasing/clarifying, no rules changes

• Player Options and Tools:
  • Boons
    • specified additional Boon rules, aligning with PFS2 Guide (e.g. can't sell Boons, one copy per PC, etc.)
    • specified retired Boons still function
  • Factions: revised Acquisitives flavortext; streamlined phrasing, no longer "newest Faction"

• Supplemental Materials:
  • Achievement Points Boon List: re-added list with Boon texts
  • Retired Boons: specified retired Boons still function

• Minor Changes to standardize references to Chronicles; other minor edits.:
  • Core Guide: Starfinder Society Characters; Purchasing Guidelines; Rebuilding Characters; Rules for Replaying; Ongoing Afflictions; Chronicle Boons; Downtime; Filling Out a Chronicle
  • Player Options and Tools: Boon Slots; Boon Slot List; Playtest Characters
  • Changelog

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6.01 -> 6.02 - 13 November 2023

• Rebuilt Guide on new site
• Core Guide:
  • Campaign Leadership: Removed Linda Zayas-Palmer; added Thurston Hillman

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Version 5

5.04

• Core Guide:
  • Campaign Leadership: Removed Tonya Woldridge; corrected missing hyphen in Linda Zayas-Palmer's name

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5.02->5.03 - 15 September 2022

• Getting Started: Added a printable Welcome to Starfinder Society section
• Player Basics: Clarified rules regarding player pawns
• Game Master Basics: Explained issuing Chronicles better
• Starships: Added ranges for weapons (and speed and capacity for tracking weapons)

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5.01->5.02 - 30 August 2022
Playable Species
As of the upcoming publication of Starfinder Interstellar Species , Paizo will use the term "playable species" going forward for what had been called "playable race" in prior publications. References throughout this Guide have been updated with the change. The following pages have been updated:

• Players: Player Basics, Character Creation, Player Rewards, Factions and Reputation, and Retired Rewards
• Other: Changelog

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5.00->5.01 - 20 August 2022

• Community Standards and Expectations: Revised 'no Character vs Character combat' rule (no PvP) & included more examples

Players

• Player Basics: Specify no crafting is allowed during adventures (only in Downtime).
• Character Creation
  • Clarify that always-available species from Alien Archive do not require ownership of Alien Archive.
  • Specify that any deity or philosophy from a source on the Character Options page may be worshipped (subject to normal access and sourcebook ownership rules).
  • Specify that multiple deities or philosophies may be worshipped, but only one can give a mechanical benefit.
• Player Rewards: Correct AcP earned for Bounties at Premiere events (1.25 AcP, not 1).
• Factions and Reputation
  • Add remaining new boons for Advocates, Cognates, and Manifold Host factions.
  • Add one new boon for each Second Seekers faction: Well-Traveled (Ehu); Augmented Shields (Jadnura); Pass the Torch (Luwazi)

Game Masters

• Game Master Basics
  • Clarify notes on retired boons
  • Add typical XP awarded note
• Additional Adventures: Specify all Starfinder Bounties are repeatable
• GM Rewards: Specify GMing one AP volume counts at 2 GM credits for novas

Pending Year 5 notes
Year 5 began in May; notes about what would change when it started are outdated. Such notes removed and any related adjustments made to:

• Getting Started: The Pact Worlds
• Players: Character Creation, Factions and Reputation

Minor Edits
Minor edits for typos, grammar, clarity, etc. made to:

• Getting Started: Welcome to Starfinder Society
• Players: Player Basics, Playtest Rules, Player Rewards, Factions and Reputation, and Retired Rewards
• Game Master: Game Master Basics, Additional Adventures, Table Variation and Creative Solutions, and Dealing with the Unexpected
• Starships
• Volunteer: Event Coordinator Basics

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4.21 -> 5.00 - 5 May 2022

• The Pact Worlds: Add Minor Factions for season 5: Advocates, Cognates, Manifold Host.

• Community Standards and Expectations
  • Corrected out of date sentence implying that engaging in PvP awards infamy. Non-consensual PvP is never allowed.
  • Updated Campaign Leadership list

• Player Basics
  • Clarified that you can buy items on a Chronicle even if they are not normally allowed in play
  • Fixed link to mnemonic editor boon

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Version 4

4.2 -> 4.21 - 1 March 2022
Players

• Player Basics
  • Included in main body of Guide existing rule (limit one companion) from current place in glossary (definition of "companion")
  • Added text: 2- and 3-player tables receive the 4-player adjustments
  • Added text: Bounties do not grant Downtime
• Character Creation: Added note: see FAQ for more information on species accessed with a boon that have since become always available
• Player Rewards: Added SF Bounties to typical AcP rewards table

Game Masters

• Additional Adventures
  • Added information on SF Bounties to Sanctioned Adventures
  • Removed temporary section on revised rewards (for some adventures published before August 2021) since the affected sanctioning documents have all been updated
• GM Rewards
  • Revised and extended GM Credit text, aligning with PFS2 Guide and clarifying
  • Removed SFS #1-39 from 5-Nova Qualifying list (sunset date: March 1, 2022)

Glossary

• Added page navigation links
• Revised definition of "companion" (not limited to class features; does include purchased creatures)

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4.03 -> 4.2 - 1 February 2022
Getting Started

• Welcome to Starfinder Society: Made minor revisions to character and pregen references for clarity and succinctness
• Community Standards and Expectations: Added rules for rebuilding PCs when changes are made to "class features for which there are multiple options (such as a biohacker's field of study)"

Players

• Player Basics: Restored and revised rules on default 2 Chronicles per adventure per player (1 as a PC, 1 as a GM)
• Factions and Reputation
  • Made extensive revisions due to the elimination of Fame / transition to AcP
  • Re-added Year of the Scoured Stars boon, now available with AcP
  • Clarified that Starfinder Body Recovery is for situations when your party cannot feasibly recover your body themselves
• Retired Rewards
  • Removed Year of the Scoured Stars boon; reactivated and restored to Factions and Reputation
  • Added Fame boons not converted to AcP boons
  • Added Alien Archive Admittance boon

Other

• GM Rewards: Listed Nova-qualifying scenarios, including SFS #1-39 sunset as of March 1, 2022.
• Starships: Restored Tier 6 Drake Port coilgun.
• Glossary
  • Added Character, Evergreen, and NPC definitions
  • Revised Fame, PC, and Sanctioned Adventure definitions

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4.02 -> 4.03 - 11 November 2021

• Pact Worlds: Added note regarding additional information for each faction
• Player Basics: Added Note regarding updated Adventure Rewards for early adventures
• Player Rewards: Updated to reflect transition to AcP
• Factions and Reputation: Updated "End of Fame" link in first paragraph to point to most recent announcement
• Additional Adventures
  • Added note that Chronicles for Adventure Mode adventures are assigned at the end of an adventure
  • Added revised adventure reward section to bring early adventures up to similar rewards as later adventures.
• Starships: Fixed some weapon entries on the Pegasus that referenced a weapon that did not exist

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4.01 -> 4.02 - 3 August 2021

• Main Page: Fixed copy -paste error
• The Pact Worlds: Degendered text
• Recent History: Made minor grammatical edits
• Player Basics
  • Degendered text
  • Added references to AcP
  • Removed a reference to "gold"
  • Added instructions for downloading Chronicle Boons
• Character Creation
  • Minor grammatical edits
  • Degendered text
• Playtest Rules
  • Added Evolutionist playtest
  • Updated playtest rules to re-insert the requirement that playtest characters must be single-classed
  • Updated the expected date for Galactic Magic
• Player Rewards: Degendered text
• Factions and Reputation
  • Degendered text
  • Added AcP costs
  • Clarified replay boons.
• Game Master Basics
  • Updated "Where to buy" to include new product lines.
  • Cleaned up grammar and generally clarified "Filling out Chronicle Sheets"
• Additional Adventures
  • Added: When playing an adventure using a SFS character, the Chronicle *must* be assigned to that character.
  • Added Beginner Box
• GM Rewards
  • Degendered text
  • Added limitation that a given special can not account for more than three of the 10 specials needed to qualify for 5 novas
• Table Variation and Creative Solutions
  • Degendered text
  • Added AcP references
• Dealing with the Unexpected: Degendered text
• Starships
  • Fixed minor errors on Azata
  • Incorporated Azata into the Starship overview section

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4.00 -> 4.01 - 1 July 2021

• Starships
  • Added Azata Tiers 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12
  • Added ranges to starship weapons
• Changelog: Added missing change in changelog 3.00 -> 4.00: The maximum table size has been reduced to 6. (Tables of 7 players are no longer legal. )

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3.00 -> 4.00

• Player Basics
  • Major Changes
    • Players are responsible for Downtime
    • Pregen / GM Downtimes use the skills of the character applied to.
    • Purchased condition removal automatically succeeds
    • The maximum table size has been reduced to 6. (Tables of 7 players are no longer legal. )
  • Minor Changes
    • Negative Condition removal clarified and consolidated.
    • Applying/transferring weapon fusions text added (free at HQ)
• Character Creation
  • Minor Changes: Characters can pick (named) home worlds from the Veskarium / Near Space
• Rewards
  • Minor Changes: Added "Boons which unlock over time" section for boons with checkboxes
• Reputation Boons
  • Minor Changes: Revised Hireling text along the lines of PFS text; Hirelings can only perform recall knowledge checks in combat, nothing else.
• Retired Player Rewards
  • Minor Changes: Season Boons are Cumulative boons, not capstone boons
• Game Master Rewards
  • Minor Changes: GMs may not chose mutually exclusive rewards on Chronicles
• Additional Adventures
  • Page created to host rules for running Sanctioned Adventures, including sections on Sanctioned Adventures, Modes of Play, Character Types, and Sanctioning Documents